Wingweaver
by fireglow4ever
Summary: Hiatus
1. Chapter 1

**I don't own Yu-gi-oh. All the character's belong to its creator, except Crystal and Johny. Btw, Seto is a jerk at first, but he get's better. Hang in there!**

A lonely island poked out from the depths of the sea. It was covered by a lush forest and at its highest point stood a proud castle. It was a dusty brown and creepers ran up it, trying in vain to drag it down to the forest below. The thick velvet of night lay on the isle, broken only by the light of the moon. A small figure stood on a balcony of the castle, a troubled expression on her face.

Crystal leaned on the balcony railing, looking out over Duelist Kingdom. Soon many duelists would arrive including the one who held the Millenium Puzzle, Yugi Moto. Her father Maximillion had just outlined his plan to bring back his wife and she feared she couldn't go along with it. Not only had he kidnapped Yugi's guardian, he also wanted to take over Seto's company, which Crystal hated. She liked Seto, even if he was a jerk most of the time. Crystal smiled; part sad, part annoyed. She still hadn't been able to duel him since Maximillion would always bring her on his expeditions to find more monster tablets for his Duel Monster cards; unfortunately they always seemed to happen when she was in a tournament. Maybe in the next tournament she entered they'd duel, after all, how many ancient monster tablets could there be?

That wasn't the worst part of Maximillion's plan though. He planned to steal that poor boy's Millenium Puzzle. Her hands gripped the railing tighter as conflicting thoughts ran through her head.

Crystal could remember little before Maximillion adopted her so she didn't know what it would be like to have a mother, but Cecelia sounded like such a kind person Crystal couldn't help but wish Maximillion's plan worked.

However, every part of her being was against harming Yugi. She wondered if he had family, a sister. Someone who cared about him as much as she cared about the younger brother she lost long ago. Crystal could faintly remember his laugh, and the warm feeling it brought to know she'd made him smile. Her most vivid memory was of holding him for the first time and promising to keep the fragile child safe. There was still a driving need to protect her brother even though she had long ago forgotten what he looked like and where he might be. If only she could remember his face! Her memory loss blotted out such large chunks of time it felt like she'd forgotten more than she remembered.

She gnawed her bottom lip in worry, still torn between her morals and her heart. What should she do?

_"Don't let your father do this. It's not right and the results would be catastrophic,"_ Crystal whirled around. Where had that voice come from? It seemed so familiar, like she'd heard it everyday of her life, but it had slipped her mind until then. She shook her head. She must be imagining things. _"You must stand up to your father, I will help you,"_

"Who are you?" Crystal asked aloud. Not only was her memory faulty, she was going crazy too!

_"You know me. Pegasus can't hide everything from you,"_

"What do you mean?"

Just then Maximillion opened the door. He was as dapper as usual, his red suit spotless. The Millenium Eye shone dimly in the darkness, and his real eye was sad and careworn. "Forgive me, Crystal. I cannot let you stop me." A bright light came from his Millenium eye and she dropped to the floor, unconscious.

The next morning Crystal woke up in her bed with no memory of the night's events. What had happened? She seemed to remember a voice, but it quickly slipped out of her mind like a dream that faded as soon as dawn came.

Now she remembered, there was a tournament being held tomorrow! She could go around and duel some of the competitors for fun and would get to see her father duel! He always won, but it was still fun to watch him perfectly counteract his opponent's stratagy.

Crystal couldn't see it, but a spirit sat next to her. They looked exactly alike, but the spirit had straight hair and six wings folded neatly against her back. The spirit watched her young charge with a growing anger at Maximillion Pegasus. A soft light came from Crystal's skin, invisible to everyone but the six winged fairy; proof that Pegasus was blocking her from Crystal's mind with his Millenium item. It had been three years since Pegasus had separated their souls. Some day though the spirit would get through and they would find Crystal's little brother.

Before it was too late.


	2. Chapter 2

Crystal ran up to the docks and smiled up at the huge ship she'd be boarding. She prefered going on a boat trip to staying with Pegasus on his boring island any day, even if they were only going to Domino City to pick up the tournament's duelists. Crystal was wearing what she usually wore; a T-shirt and jeans. Her shirt was tye-dye pink with a sunflower emobroidered on it.

Crystal turned around and rolled her eyes at the figure running towards her. "Hurry up, Johnny!" Crystal shouted at her (unnecessary) bodyguard.

Johnny was the perfect combination of an army man, a friend, and an overprotective parent. He was always with her whenever she had to go anywhere, and with her adventurous spirit, they had been all over the world together. Even though she'd gone on numerous trips, she'd never been able to make a lasting friendship with anybody other than Johnny. People tend to get angry when you forget who they are. Since Johnny was such a big part of her life, it was nearly impossible to forget him. Johnny was about the only friend she had and, to be honest, he was pretty awesome. He had the record for the fastest pick-up time from one side of New York City to the other, a record he had expressly forbiden her to try to break, since he had broken quite a few laws to do it. Their adventures weren't exactly legal, but they sure were fun! They were a team, watching each others backs and bailing each other out of tricky situations, kinda like a gang with only two people. _'Don't worry brotha, we be family now! I watch yo back! Foshizzle!_' Johnny was the one who taught her self-defense, along with the use of countless weapons (some illegal) and numerous painful pressure points.

Now, if he could only keep up with her, he'd be absolutely perfect!

"It's not going to leave without you!" Johny gasped as he finally caught up with her. He was in his late twenties, had short brown hair, and wore a suit just like everyone else in her father's employment. It probably wasn't the best sign that her bodyguard was out of breath just from running after her, but she _had_ run all the way from the castle to the docks. And there was that hill. And a few fallen logs. Actually, the fact that he kept her in sight the whole time was enough to earn him a pay raise.

"So! I want to get there as fast as possible so this tournament can finally begin!" she grinned, her amusement growing at his sour expression, "Come on!"

Crystal seized his arm and half led, half dragged him up the ramp onto the waiting ship.

* * *

Crystal tried to hide her disappointment at Seto Kaiba's absence. He was probably too busy to enter, but she had been excited at the chance to finally duel him. No matter how many times they were set to duel in a tournament, something always got in the way. Maybe next time...

She wasn't very impressed with the duelists assembled here. Most were just wannabes begging for attention. There were a few good duelists, but most were too arrogant to make good conversation with. Crystal leaned against the railing and watched the dark water below. It looked like thick tar, and the foamy crests reached up the sides of the boat like searching fingers, ready to grab hold of unwary people and drag them down into the smothering blackness.

"When did I get into such a morbid mood?" Crystal mumbled to herself.

She sighed and was about to turn away when she saw someone jump off the side of the boat. Seriously jumped! This wasn't some idiot who fell off, this was some idiot who jumped in! What the hell? Her jaw dropped even lower when another person jumped in after him. _This whole boat's filled with suicidal people!_ Crystal ran across the deck, grabbing an emergency rope ladder on the way (**A.N.: there was seriously a rope ladder in the TV series. I want an emergency rope ladder! Would you get me one for Christmas?**). When she got there, a girl and a boy were looking over the railing with worried expressions and rapidly discussing how to get them up. Crystal tossed the rope ladder over the side, holding tight to one end. "Would you help me hold this so they don't drown?" she asked. Needless to say, they quickly gripped the rope.

Once the two boys were standing on the deck, soaked and shivering, but alive, she asked if they were all right. "We're fine," the blonde one said with a Brooklyn accent, then he turned to the other one who jumped in, "Sorry Yugi, I didn't save any of your cards,"

Really? This guy almost drowned himself to save some trading cards? Sure, Duel Monsters was popular, but seriously?

Then she realized something. She'd heard the name Yugi before. Where was it though? "It's fine Joey." Yugi said. He looked at her and smiled, "Thanks for helping us. I'm Yugi, this is Joey, Tea, and Tristan. What's your name?"

She shook his hand a little distractedly, still trying to remember where she'd heard the name Yugi before. On TV maybe? "My name's Crystal Pegasus," Crystal said.

"What?" Joey exclaimed. "You're Pegasus's daughter?"

Joey's shocked and horrified tone made her focus back on their conversation. The three other teenagers also had stunned looks on thier faces."Yes, I am," she said, looking at him strangely. All four of the teenagers had had a violent reaction to her name. Odd...

Joey clenched his hands into fists, "That slimeball, I'd like to teach him a lesson..."

Crystal narrowed her eyes, "Hey! That's my father your talking about!"

"Don't you know what he did?" Tea said.

"What are you talking about?" she asked in bewilderment.

"He kidnapped my grandpa's soul," Yugi said, his large purple eyes filled with sorrow and loss, "And now he's forcing me to enter this tournament to win it back,"

Crystal's mouth popped opened in surprise, taken completely off guard, then her lips pressed into a thin line and she vigorously shook her head, "You must be mistaken, Maximillion wouldn't do something like that!"

"Well he did," Joey said.

"It's true!" Tea ascertained.

Crystal took a deep breath to settle herself. This revelation seemed vaguely familiar, just like Yugi's name. "He has been acting awful strange lately," Crystal murmured, "and last night..." She reached up and touched the back of her head, where a sizeable, painful lump she had discovered that morning was finally going away. What _had_ happened last night?

"What?" Yugi asked

Crystal shook her head. "I can't remember," she sighed, "Then again, that's not surprising."

"What do you mean?" asked Tea.

"For some reason I forget almost everything that happens to me," Crystal explained, "Every doctor I've been to says I'm fine, but I keep forgetting more and more. Almost everything that happened to me before Maximillion adopted me is a complete blank." She shivered, remembering the vulnerablilty she felt after realizing another chunk of her memory was gone, "It's a terrible feeling to know you've forgotten everything important."

The group of friends looked at each other in surprise and worry. "If Pegasus could kidnap my grandpa's soul through a videotape," Yugi began hesitantly, "Is it possible that he's tampering with your memory?"

"NO!" she shouted, her anger suddenly rising, "He'd never do that to me and I don't believe he kidnapped your grandfather's spirit!"

"But he did," Yugi insisted, "Why would we lie about this, it's too unbelievable!"

Her shoulders slumped, "I don't know," she whispered, her anger gone as quickly as it arrived, "I just can't believe the only person I remember caring about me is making me forget my past."

"Alright," Yugi said gently, "Just be careful around Pegasus."

"If it will put your minds at ease," she said, "But I still don't believe he's erasing my memory."

"Do your believe he's taken my grandpa?" Yugi asked.

Crystal frowned and bit her lip. "I'm not sure. It's to unbelievable to be a lie," she admitted.

"Hey Flutterbug!" Johnny called out, running up to them. Flutterbug was the nickname Johnny had given her, although she didn't know why. She'd have to ask him someday. "I've been looking for you!" he said, grinning at the group of teenagers staring up at the huge man in front of them with awed looks on their faces. "She hasn't been giving you any trouble, has she?" Johnny asked, mussing up Crystal's hair.

She pushed his hand away and glared up at him, sticking out her tongue. "Well everyone," Crystal said with an exasperated tone in her voice, "this annoying manchild is my bodyguard, Johnny. Don't let his size fool you though, he's just a teddy bear and I love him to death. It's only every-so-often I want to tear his stuffing out. Johnny, these people are Tea, Tristan, Joey, and Yugi," she said, gesturing to each person in turn.

"Hey!"

"Hi!"

"Nice to meet ya!"

"Hi!"

"Hey!...Um... why are Yugi and Joey wet?" Johnny asked, raising his eyebrow quizzically.

"They jumped into the ocean for some Duel Monsters cards," Crystal explained, grinning when she saw the two boys in question blush.

Johnny blinked in surprise, obviously trying not to be judgmental, but ultimately failing. "Really?" he exclaimed, looking over at Crystal, who nodded her head.

Joey scowled and said, "They were Yugi's Exodia cards though!"

Crystal and Johnny shared a meaningful look, both of them thinking about the rooms in the Duelist Kingdom castle and the several warehouses Maximillion owned that were filled with rare Duel Monsters cards. Before Joey could get all defensive again, Crystal remembered that Johnny had been looking for her. "Was there something you needed Johnny?" she asked.

Johnny frowned in thought for a moment, before his eyes widened. "Oh, yeah! Your dad just called you, and he sounded kinda worried. He said you didn't answer your cell," he reported.

"I knew I was forgetting something!" Crystal cried, smacking her head, "I left it back home!"

"Well, he's still on the line up in the control room. You'd better go and talk to him, you know how worried he gets."

Crystal sighed and rolled her eyes. "He's going to give himself a heart attack someday with all his worrying," she muttered. Crystal, looked back at Yugi and his friends and smiled, "It was nice to meet you all! Hopefully I'll see you again at Duelist Kingdom!"

"Bye!"

"Nice meeting you!"

"See ya around, Crystal!"

"Be careful!"

"I will," Crystal assured them, waving as she started walking away, "Bubye!"

"'Be careful?'" Johnny asked when they were out of earshot, "Did I miss something?"

Crystal frowned as she remembered what the group of teens had said about Maximillion. "It's nothing Johnny," she said, shaking her head, "Come on, Maximillion's probably having a coronary..."

* * *

"Hey, it's me. Is there something wrong?" Crystal asked into the phone.

There was a crackle of static as her father let out a relieved sigh. "No, no, nothing's wrong, I think," Maximillion said distractedly.

"You think?" Crystal pried, wondering what was worrying him so much.

"I just had a feeling," he said vaguely, "Are you alright, Crissy?"

"Never better!"

Maximillion chuckled softly. "Well, I just wanted to check in on you."

"Worry wort!" Crystal said, smiling when she heard him laugh again, "Oh, before you go, do you know a boy named Yugi?"

Her father's laughter cut off immediately. "Why do you ask?" he questioned warily.

"He's in the tournament," Crystal explained, "I just talked with him and I think I've heard his name somewhere before."

"I know who he is, but I don't know where you would have heard his name."

She frowned and sighed, "Bummer, it's really bugging me."

Maximillion was silent for a few seconds before he spoke again, "As soon as you arrive at Duelist Kingdom, I'd like you to come see me."

_If Pegasus could kidnap my grandpa's soul through a videotape, is it possible that he's tampering with your memory?_

Crystal forced away the thought. "Why?" she asked.

"Just... do it, okay?" Maximillion insisted, sounding both exhausted and exasperated.

"Okay," Crystal murmured, put off by the irritated undertone in his voice.

"Hey," her father said softly, "I love you. No matter what happens, don't ever forget that."

A warm smile crossed her face when he said that. "I love you too, Dad."

The line went dead in her hand and Crystal leaned back against a wall in the control room, feeling confused and worried. She thought about Maximillion's insistance that she come see him as soon as she arrived home and Yugi's warning that her adoptive father could be responsible for her memory loss. She knew his Millenium Eye held great power, but could it really erase her past? If she went to see him, would she find another part of her memory gone?

_No matter what happens..._ What did that mean?

"Hey, are you okay?" Johnny asked, touching her shoulder.

Crystal looked up at her friend and smiled. "Yeah, everything's fine," she assured him, "He just wanted to check up on me."

"That's good," Johnny grinned, "We should be arriving at Duelist Kingdom soon."

"Alright!" Crystal said, smiling and nodding as Johnny started to talk about the duelists he'd met. She wasn't going to tell Johnny about her problems. Not because she didn't trust him, becasue she'd put her life in his hands without a single qualm. No, it was because if Yugi was right, she didn't want to put Johnny in danger too. His entire job was based on putting himself in hazardous situations for her sake, and he deserved a break from it all. Besides, she could fix this on her own...

... Hopefully.


	3. Chapter 3

The island was sighted almost exactly at sunrise, creating a lovely halo around Duelist Kingdom. Crystal wondered if Maximillion had timed the pickup so the island would be seen just as the sun rose over the horizon. It wouldn't surprise her, Maximillion had always had a taste for the theatrical.

The ship pulled up the the dock a few minutes later and the rush of duelists off the ship was comical to watch. You usually didn't see kids moving that fast unless there was an ice cream truck in the area. Crystal and Johnny waited until the main rush was over before walking down the ramp and onto the slippery wood of the dock. They followed the mass of duelists in front of them back onto dry land, then Crystal tugged Johnny out of the procession so she could speak with him.

"This is where we split Johnny," she said, taking in his surprised expression and wondering if he'd let her go alone. He took his job _way_ too seriously. "I'm staying out with all the other duelists. Hopefully I'll get a good game out of one of them."

"But, why do I have to-" Johnny began to protest.

"I want to go alone Johnny."

The bodyguard's eyes narrowed. "No," he said firmly.

"Please Johnny?" she begged, deciding a guilt trip was the way to go, "I never _ever_ get to do things on my own!"

"That's 'cause every time I turn my back, you get into trouble!"

Crystal opened her eyes wide and worked up some crocodile tears. "Just this once, Johnny? I promise I'll be careful and I won't leave the island. Besides, this is Maximillion's island! I'll be camping out in my own back yard! How could I get into any trouble here?"

"You'l find a way," he said grimly.

"Please?"

Johnny gave her a calculating look for a moment, then he sighed and gave her a tight hug. She felt like a china doll in his massive embrace, "Try not to get hurt, okay?"

"I will!" Crystal grinned, banishing her fake tears.

Johnny watched her transformation and sighed, "I really am a push over,"

"Yeah, but I love ya for it!" Crystal said, "See you soon, Johnny. Oh, and could you tell Maximillion I'll be staying out here for me? I don't want to hike all the way up those stairs just to tell him that." And there was that possibility that seeing him would result in another bout of amnesia...

"Sure thing flutterbug."

"'Kay, bubye!" she called, running off into the woods before Johnny could change his mind.

She watched the opening ceremony of the tournament from a distance. Crystal was still skeptical as to whether Maximillion was making her so forgetful, but she had a feeling that staying away from him was a good course of action. Hadn't she promised Johnny she would try to be careful?

As the duelists dispersed Crystal smiled and touched the pouch on her belt where she kept her deck. She couldn't remember the last time she had a good duel.

* * *

Crystal was sitting beneath a tree, unable to sleep. She was still troubled by what Maximillion might have done. She forced the thought away and reflected on the day's events.

Hopefully as the tournament went on, the pitiful duelists she played against would be gone and she could duel someone with talent. Crystal smiled at the thought of the challenge and her shoulders slowly relaxed, nodding off with the warm, late spring breeze brushing her face.

* * *

Her dream was not really a dream, more of a memory. The stadiums were filled with lopsided people with bulges in strange places, and the duelists currently battling were using God Cards, but other than that, the memory was fairly accurate. Mokuba sat in the chair next to her, watching his brother blast away Slifer the Sky Dragon with his Obelisk the Tormentor, his eyes shining with admiration. "Way to go, bro!" he cheered, although with all the people in the stands screaming, she doubted if Seto heard it.

"You really love him don't you?" Crystal murmmured.

Mokuba looked up at her and frowned. "Of course I love him, he's my big brother!"

_Love... brother... him... find him..._

Thoughts drifting just far enough away from understanding, but as she tried to bring those vague thoughts closer, Maximillion's hand decended on her shoulder from behind. "Crystal," he said, and she immediatly turned to look at him. As soon as she saw the Millenium Eye glint, the part of Crystal not reliving the memory knew it was a mistake. All those thoughts were sucked out of her mind, leaving her dazed and confused. "Are you alright Crissy?" Maximillion asked, sounding properly concerned.

_It was you! It was always you!_ Crystal's semi-conscious part screamed, _You stole away my memories!_

"I... I think I'm alright..." Crystal's memory said, looking puzzled, "I feel like I've forgotten something though."

Maximillion smiled sadly. "It'll be alright sweetheart," he murmmured.

Crystal nodded and turned back to the duel, already putting the memory loss out of mind.

_How could you!_ Crystal screamed at her father's retreating back, _I trusted you! How could you do this to me?_

Maximillion paused and turned back to look at her, not the Crystal watching the duel, but the one right behind him, demanding an answer. His mouth opened and the deafening sound of-

* * *

-a helicopter's blades startled her awake again. Crystal looked around in the confusion of those suddenly woken, remembered where she was, and stood, craning her head back to catch glimpses of the helicopter as it passed above her, preparing to land. Crystal saw the large KC on the side and a broad smile lit up her face. Seto had entered the tournament! Her dream forgotten, she ran in the direction the helicopter took, following brief glimpses, violently swinging branches and the echoing noise of the 'copter's blades. Once the sound disappeared, Crystal slowed and concentrated instead on making sure she was going straight forward and not straying to the left or right. Eventually, she faintly heard the sound of voices ahead of her, and stepped up her pace. Through a gap in the trees, she saw the clearing that the helicopter landed in, and nearby, Seto and Joey dueling with the latest hologram technology Kaiba Corp. had devised. Yugi, Tea, and Tristan stood nearby, watching.

She was just about to step out from behind the trees, when she froze. It suddenly felt like a door had been flung open and another consciousness had entered, broadening her perception of the world. She saw things she had once missed, the shades of color barely visable in the dark, the rich tastes of earth and spring in the air. Everything was so much clearer than she had ever experienced. "What..." she whispered, reaching up to touch her temple.

_Crystal, Crystal can you hear me?_ asked an urgent voice, only it seemed to sound in her head and not around her.

Still unable to speak she nodded, her eyes wide. Crystal felt a gentle tug on her mind and she seemed to float out of her body. She cried out, but realized that her lips hadn't moved.

_Crystal it's alright,_ said a girl next to her who could have been her twin. She looked at her with warm golden eyes filled with flecks of blue, an exact opposite of her own eyes. _Don't be afraid, I'm here to help you._

The spirit showed her hands were empty to convince Crystal she wasn't a threat, but Crystal barely noticed because she had seen that the spirit had six beautiful white wings. Her jaw dropped as she recognized who the being in front of her was. _Your Wingweaver!_ she whispered in amazement.

_Yes,_ the spirit said with some amusement.

Crystal shook her head, her eyes wide. _It's finally happened. I've lost it, there's no other explanation_

_You haven't gone mad Crystal. Don't you remember? We've been together for a very long time._

Crystal searched the small reserve of memories she had and faintly recalled a light in the endless darkness she had lived in before Maximillion had rescued her.

Wingweaver's eyes grew sad. _You've forgotten so much. You don't even remember your brother do you?_

Her head snapped up. _Do you know where he is? Is he all right? What does he look like?_

_I'm afraid I cannot answer any of those questions. My memory is tied to yours and Pegasus's tampering has erased my memories as well. However, I am ready to help you find your brother._

_So it's true_, she whispered, _Maximillion has destroyed my memories. _

_They're not gone,_ Wingweaver reassured her, _they are merely masked. Your memories make up who you are and to destroy them would be to change who you are at the very root of your being. Even the Millenium Eye doesn't have that kind of power. The right trigger will bring your past back. In the meantime though, we should try to leave the island as soon as possible. Given the chance, Pegasus will try to separate us again, though it will take more time now that we aren't weakened by the Shadow Realm._

_The Shadow Realm? Is that the darkness?_

Wingweaver nodded. _You should return consciousness to your body. We will still be able to talk, but it is not safe for you to be unresponsive for long. Pegasus will have sensed that we are now one again and try to recapture you. _She paused and look out into the clearing Seto's helicopter had landed_, It seems the two you call Seto and Joey have finished their duel._

Her vision blurred and then cleared to reveal a charming close up of the ground. She must have fallen after her out of body experience. Crystal hesitantly stood up and after a moment of vertigo her dizziness passed.

She staggered over to a tree and leaned against it, listening to Seto and Yugi talk while wiping the dirt off her face. "Good luck rescuing your brother,"

Crystal's eyes widened in shock. Her father had kidnapped Mokuba, too! For a moment she felt a deep pain at the betrayal, but it was quickly overwhelmed by a burning rage. He'd crossed the line. No one messed with the people she cared about, and the short meeting she'd had with Mokuba a few months ago had put him in that category. He was a very sweet kid, smart too. But that loyalty to his brother was what really made her care for him. They had something in common. And Seto... she cared for him too. He was one of the few people she remembered off the island, and that in itself was something to cherish him for. Seto was a way to remember that there was a world outside of this island, so she could never forget there was adventure and excitement off Duelist Kingdom. She couldn't be trapped on this little rock as long as she knew there was something beyond it.

And she'd wanted to duel him for as long as she could remember.

She watched Seto's back disappearing into the woods and frowned. _He's going to get himself hurt,_ she thought.

_We'd better follow him then._ Wingweaver said.

Crystal nodded, already slipping back into the familiarity of their connection. She set off swiftly through the trees, using a stealth she had not used in a very long time...

* * *

**Authors Note: Please review what I've written so far. I can always use some criticism (please not on my spelling though, I already know it sucks). I've noticed that most of the Yu-gi-oh fanfics are Yaoi based and i just want to say that there will be none of that in this one. Sorry for those of you who enjoy that kind of thing.**


	4. Chapter 4

It was morning now, and Seto still hadn't stopped for a rest. These big business people had a ridiculous amount of determination! Seto paused to reach into his shirt and pulled out a... duel monster's card on a chain? She crept closer as he opened it and saw it was a picture of a younger Mokuba. Her eyes saddened. It was so sweet how much the Kiaba brothers cared for each other.

_Snap!_ Crystal froze at the same time a Seto. _Shit! I stepped on a twig!_ She hid behind a tree to avoid his eyes. Hopefully he wouldn't come looking for her.

_Hope springs eternal_, Wingweaver chimed in.

_Does luck? 'Cause we need some of that too._

The fairy grinned at her ruefully. _I'll have to ask the Time Wizard about that._

Crystal almost giggled out loud. It was so hard to focus on the task at hand when she was having a conversation with a Duel Monsters card.

She slowly peeked around the tree and saw that Seto was gone. Crystal glanced up and down the trail and didn't see him anywhere.

Wingweaver looked shocked at the words she muttered crossly to herself. _You've developed quite the language Crystal. We'll have to have a talk about that._

"Shh!" she whipered, emerging from the trees. He either ran all the way forward to disappear into the distance, ran all the way back, or went into the...

A hand came from behind her and clamped other her mouth, and the other arm wrapped around her chest, restraining her arms. All she could do was make a surprised sound as she was dragged back into the forest.

Crystal struggled on instinct, afraid that it wasn't Seto, but one of Maximillion's thugs come to take her back to the castle.

When she managed to elbow whoever it was in the gut, Seto's voice hissed in her ear. "Hold still," he ordered, tightening his grip.

Crystal immediately relaxed. _Phew! He's not a bad guy._

_Maybe,_ Wingweaver said, _but he looks angry enough to do you harm. Don't try to infuriate him any more than he already is._

_Gotcha._

When he paused about 50 feet from the trail, he slowly pulled his hand away from her mouth. "Jeez, Seto!" she whispered, "You scared the crap out of me!"

Mentally she added, "Is my so called language better now?"

_Much._

"Good," he muttered into her ear. Wingweaver was right, he did sound pissed. "Why were you following me?"

"Because unlike most people, I like you and I don't want my father hurting you."

"I don't need your help," Seto replied curtly, "I can take care of my family just fine,"

"If that were the case, you wouldn't be here in the first place,"

Seto's arm constricted hard enough to make it hard to breathe. When he finally relaxed his arm she tried not to show how much that had hurt. "Damn your strong!"

"I will save my brother, and your father will be sorry he ever messed with me." He shoved her roughly away. She tripped on a buried log and fell to the ground.

She glared at his back as it walked back to the trail and stood up. "I'm just going to follow you again you know!"

He paused and looked back at her. "Do I have to knock you out?"

Crystal's hands clenched into fists. "Yes,"

Seto looked at her for a short moment, then gave a short laugh. "Follow me if you want, I don't have time for this,"

She smiled tightly, still a little mad, and ran after him. This was as close to an invitation she would get.

When Crystal caught up with him, he glanced at her. "I have a few rules about this,"

"Cool, I love regulated fun!" she said sarcastically. Crystal noticed the annoyance in his face at her responce and eagerly anticipated the chance for some pay back.

"Number one: don't make me angry, because I will lose my temper."

"You already did that," she reminded him.

"Number two: don't try to preach that 'Heart of the Cards' crap too me,"

Crystal blinked, "Heart of the what?"

"Rule number three: keep up with me or you'll be left behind,"

"Does that work both ways?" she asked.

"And finally rule number four: don't talk to me in general," he looked at her pointedly.

"Can I talk to myself?"

He sighed deeply, "This is going to be a long day,"

"Technically the days are getting shorter," Crystal said, helpfully.

Seto rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Please shut up now,"


	5. Chapter 5

Crystal actually did shut up to give Seto a break. He was under a lot of stress and, as funny as it was to annoy him, she didn't want to make it any worse.

As they made their way towards Pegasus's castle, Seto wondered where that creep was keeping his little brother

Crystal was wondering the same thing. Where would Maximillion have hid Mokuba so that she wouldn't know where he was. She walked around the castle all the time and hadn't heard anything. Maybe Mokuba was gagged or something. He'd have to be bound to so he couldn't bang on something to make noise. Either way, he was probably fine. All the rooms she had been in were very comfortable, and Maximillion wasn't the type to put someone through unnecessary pain.

_But, he did erase your memories_, whispered a snide voice in her head, not Wingweaver, but her own doubts about her adoptive father's personality, _if he could do that to his own daughter, what makes you think he'll let Mokuba be comfortable? He's probably stuck in a stinking cell_

_Shut up_, she hissed back, _my home doesn't have a dungeon!_

The voice seemed to mock her with its silence

The two had walked absorbed in there own thoughts for a long time, when Seto turned to her. "Why are you helping me? You wouldn't betray your father just because you like me."

She kept looking ahead, trying to hide the pain on her face. "He took something from me, and I'd like to get it back,"

Seto's face was cold. "Was it your allowance?" he asked, his voice sarcastic

Crystal glared at him, "I'm not that petty Seto,"

"Then what did he take from you?" he asked, subtle curiousity in his voice

She glanced at him, and saw that Seto had seen the sorrow in her eyes. "He took my memories,"

"What?"

"Almost everything before I came to this god-forsaken island, and many of the things afterwards, are blank." she said, the anger she felt finally releasing, "I remember only bits and pieces of my first family. An embrace. The color of my mother's eyes. My brother's laugh. They're all I have to show that I didn't come out of thin air," Crystal's eyes began to tear up, so she turned away, "I recently met an old friend of mine who told me the truth. Maximilion has taken away the only people I cared about, and so help me, I'm going to get them back! When I talk to my father," She paused and looked at him. His eyes widened at the ferocity in her blue eyes, "When I talk to him, he'll be sorry he ever tried to separate me from my family!"

Seto was silent for a moment. Pegasus had a lot to answer for. Not surprisingly, he was a snake to the core.

Seto was amazed by this new, serious Crystal. Ever since he had met her two years ago, she'd done nothing, but giggle. Crystal was as absentminded as a mayfly, and her attention span was even smaller. He'd been amazed by how unconcerned she was towards everything except Duel Monsters. He'd never met anyone like her, and in truth, her light-heartedness was kind of... attractive.

This wasn't like her at all. She'd grown up in mere seconds! Inside though, she was still an innocent little girl, and he could tell she was in a great deal of pain. He watched the hidden fires die in her eyes to show sorrow and betrayal that ran to her very soul. There was much more to her than met the eye.

He pulled himself out of his musings and let his face soften. "It seems we're in the same boat,"

She nodded, pulling some hair back behind her ear so she could wipe away the tears that escaped her eyes without him noticing. "So could you try to be civil? You're not the only one with a temper."

He was about to nod, when he felt something press against his back. He froze and cursed himself inwardly. He'd been so focused on Crystal that he hadn't noticed a thug sneaking up behind them! It was obviously a gun pressed to his back, what else was shaped like that? "So you're the one we're all looking for. You're coming with me kid,"

"What are you doing?" Crystal asked, her voice shaking. He looked over at her and saw that her eyes were wide and her hands were pressed against her mouth.

"Miss Crystal," the thug said, turning towards her, "We've been looking all over for you. Your father has been-,"

Whatever he was going to say was stopped by astonishment. As he was talking, Crystal's eyes hardened and she kicked the gun out of his hands. Seto whirled around and watched in amazement as she beat the crap out of the henchman. Despite the fact that she was so small, only coming up to his chest, Crystal managed to force him to the ground in two seconds flat. She sat on him, one knee digging into his back while holding one of his arms behind him. One wrong move and Crystal could dislocate his arm.

"Impressive," Seto commented, his skin still crawling where the gun had pressed against his back.

"Thanks," she said, grinning, but it looked angry due to the concentration on her face, "The only self-defense practice I've had was on my bodyguard, and he never tries to hurt me."

Just then a thought occurred to him. "Crystal, would you be able to get us into the castle?"

She shook her head. "Only if you plan to go through the front door."

"In that case," he said, looking at thug Crystal had caught, "We're going to need some assistance to get into the castle unseen,"

"Idiot," the henchmen scowled, his voice muffled by the dirt, "Pegasus always knows what goes on on his island,"

Seto smiled thinly, "It's your job to get us there as subtly as possible,"

He knelt and picked up the gun that had been used against him. Crystal eyed it with distaste. "I hate guns. There can't be anything good about an object that's only purpose is to kill things."

"I'm not a fan of them either, but it wouldn't be smart to go into the lion's den without a weapon," he said.

Seto grabbed hold of the thug's collar and dragged him to his feet. Crystal jumped off lightly and watched them closedly, ready to intervene if their captive tried to fight back. The man was almost a head taller than him, and he was pretty tall. How had Crystal managed to grab him in the first place?

Seto shoved him forward. "Move it, and don't try to run. I have a feeling Crystal can easily catch up with you,"

She giggled, only it sounded like it came from a mad scientist, not from someone with such wide innocent eyes.

He slid the gun into his belt so he could reach it when it was needed. He noticed Crystal looked at it with a troubled expression before turning back to watch their captive's back.

Seto turned towards the thug too, but he watched Crystal from the corner of his eye. There was certainly more to her than he had thought.

* * *

**Authors Note!: OK then, I have no idea what to write next so it might be a while before I update. Actually I have an idea, I just don't know how to word it. Seto get's to be semi-awesome in it. Actually Seto is always awesome, so that sentence is kinda redundant :). Plz review my story so I can refine my writing!**


	6. Chapter 6

As they walked towards the castle there were no other signs of Maximillion's henchmen, but Crystal couldn't escape the feeling that they were being watched. She supposed her father was using the Millenium Eye to spy on them, so when she felt the skin crawl on the back of her neck, she put a hand behind her back and wagged her middle finger at the forest behind them. The feeling went away after that.

The man they had captured was silent, and Seto had never been a very good conversationalist, so her mind had wandered. She concentrated on trying to bring back memories of her past, but it didn't work. All she found was the dull ache of loneliness in the fog of her mind. Crystal's frustrations eased a bit when Wingweaver gently brushed her mind. A soft warmth seemed to envelope her, reminding her of an old embrace and the sweet, undescribable scent that was her mother. She smiled brightly. She'd remembered something! It wasn't much, but for a moment it felt like her family was around her before they faded back into the dark recesses of her mind. Crystal sighed and let her mind wander elsewhere. She was worried that forcing her memories to come would distort them and leave her more confused than ever.

Eventually, Crystal remembered the group of teenagers she'd met on the boat ride here. She wondered how Yugi and his friends were doing in there quest to rescue his grandpa. Crystal recalled the duel Seto had had with Joey and turned to Seto with a question. "Did you meet Yugi or his friends before this tournament?"

She noticed his shoulders stiffen. "Yes," he said, an undercurrent of anger in voice.

Crystal his wrote it off as annoyance at her intrusion on his thoughts. "Where?"

"We all go to the same school," he said, then he looked at her, open hostility in his eyes, "and Yugi and I dueled once,"

She couldn't understand why he was so angry. She'd just asked him a question! Wingweaver supplied an explanation, but Crystal quickly turned it down. No way, Seto hasn't lost a duel for as long as I can remember. Admittedly that's not a long time, but he wouldn't...

Her thought trailed off as she realized the truth. "You lost!" She gaped, her eyes wide in amazement.

He glared at her, "Yes. I forgot you have a faulty memory. Either that or you don't have a television,"

"It was on the news?" she asked weakly.

Seto just looked at her, his eyes still bright with anger. "Sorry for bringing it up," she said, looking away. People who were as competitive as Seto were very touchy about their losses.

He looked at her, his eyes softening a little. She was obviously sorry for reminding him of his defeat, and Crystal would never intentionally hurt someone. Seto sighed and touched her arm. She looked up at him, her blue eyes confused. "It's fine, I over-reacted,"

Crystal's jaw dropped for a moment, and then she smiled broadly. Knowing him, this was as rare as him telling someone they'd be challenging to beat in duel. "Thanks!"

Seto looked a bit surprised at her reaction, but smiled back.

It was right then that their captive decided to fight back.

He whirled around and grabbed Crystal's throat with his massive hand. She looked impossibly breakable with the thug's thick fingers wrapped around her fragile neck. As her hands struggled to tug away the choking fingers, she tried to kick him in the fork of his legs. The henchman turned so she could only kick his legs as his fist pulled back, aimed at her face.

Seto punched him as hard as he could in the gut. The henchman let go of Crystal's neck with a groan and bent forward, threatening to crush him. Seto grabbed hold of the thug's collar and turned around, using the man's momentum and his own strength to throw him down a few feet away.

He dropped his briefcase and took Crystal's arm; her eyes were wide with surprise and, though she'd never admit it, fright. "Are you alright?" Seto asked, noticing there was already red marks on her neck and some swelling. He reached out and touched it gently. Seto's heart thumped a little faster as he felt the pulse racing in her neck.

Crystal tried to ignore the feeling that ran from his fingers, down to her toes, then back to her head to erupt into a fireworks show. However, things like that are hard to ignore. His face was just inches away, his eyes soft with concern. All she had to do was lean in and...

Oh no! Not a chance! She was not going to kiss Seto Kaiba!

_Why not?_ Wingweaver asked, a smirk on her transparent face as she hovered next to her.

_He's Seto! I can't, it would be so weird!_

Wingweaver just kept on smiling knowingly at her friend.

_I don't even like him!_

_I beg to differ._

Crystal pulled herself back to the present situation and remembered Seto's question. "I'm fine," She insisted, her voice sounding a little high. She brushed his hands away, annoyed at the reluctance she felt. She could hear Wingweaver giggling in the back of her mind.

Seto looked at her, not trusting what she said. He let it go for the moment and turned to the thug who was still lying on the ground, groaning. Crystal watched his face turn from gentle to full of hate with a feeling of apprehension. She took his arm before he could go "wrath of Seto Kaiba" on the man. "He can't help us if he's hurt too badly," she told him.

He took a deep breath and sighed. "I'm not going to hurt him," Seto answered. He walked over to the thug and dragged him to his feet. When he just stood there doubled over and clutching his stomach, Seto shoved him roughly, sending him staggering forward. "You can moan all you like once you take me to my brother," he snarled.

Once the group started moving again, Crystal looked at Seto apprehensively. He was kind of scary when he was pissed off. Seto felt her gaze, but when he glanced at her she looked away. What was bothering her now? He pushed his speculations away; he had to focus. This was the second time he'd been caught off guard and Pegasus's castle was very close now. He needed his wits about him to stop any attackers. Seto touched the gun slid into his belt, worried that he would soon have to use it.

* * *

**Authors Note: 8o... wow this was kind of unnecassary.**


	7. Chapter 7

Surprisingly, they weren't attacked as they approached the side of the castle. The group walked up to a door hidden in the shadow of a recess in the towering stone building's side. The henchman walked up to it and pressed his hand to the security pad, and the door slid open. He was still humbled by Seto's display of strength and meekly led them inside.

The door opened into a very long, dark brick tunnel. As they walked inside, the air became cold and stale. Crystal couldn't suppress a shiver. Nothing good ever happened in the dark. Wingweaver was the only bright thing there, but being a spirit, she couldn't illuminate the gloom around her. Being stuck in the Shadow Realm had given her a pathological fear of the dark. She'd wandered through the eternal blackness, looking into other lost soul's personal hells for her brother, watching monsters follow her and disappear before she got a good look at them. Crystal fought her fear for as long as she could, but eventually edged closer to Seto. She felt jealous of his fearlessness.

Seto noticed Crystal move closer to him until they were almost touching. He saw how wide and scared her eyes were and realized that she was afraid of the dark. He was amazed that someone as strong and carefree as Crystal could be frightened of the dark. Without even thinking about it, Seto took her hand to comfort her, just as he had for Mokuba when he was scared.

She looked up at him and smiled hesitantly, squeezing his hand. "You're a real softy, you know that," Crystal whispered soft enough so the thug wouldn't hear.

He rolled his eyes, but smiled.

It was then that the thug stopped.

Seto slipped his hand out of Crystal's and clenched his fists, prepared for a fight. "What's going on? Why have you stopped?"

The thug just chuckled and stepped forward. The brick he landed on sank, and a harsh noise echoed down the corridor. "The alarm!" Crystal gasped.

Unable to contain his frustration, Seto took the henchman's arm and whirled him around. He punched him, sending him straight into unconsciousness. Seto grabbed Crystal's arm, "Come on, we have to find Mokuba!"They ran headlong down the corridor until it finally branched off. The two paused for a moment, before heading down the left hand tunnel. Neither wanted to split up and loose the other in the underground maze.

As they went further into the tunnels, they found more and more branching hallways and began to pass cells. The first one they found really hit their situation home to Crystal. They were looking for a child held prisoner by her own father, a man who had stolen away her memories, kidnapped an old man, and had a dungeon in his basement.

"Why is he doing this?" she whispered.

Seto heard her and glanced over. "Crystal, a sad fact of life is that the rich want to get richer. Pegasus is trying to take over Kaiba Corp. from me. He's doing this for money,"

Crystal frowned, the premature worry lines she'd had since before she could remember deepening. She could almost remember something about this, but it refused to become clear. "It's still so hard for me to comprehend."

He nodded, "If you like, I'll stay with you when you talk to Pegasus, to make sure you get the answers you want."

She shook her head, "No, this is something I need to do on my own."

"Fair enough," he said, watching her emotions move over her face. It was hard for him to understand how much she loved Pegasus. He could barely remember his first parents, and Gozuburo hadn't exactly been a caring father. The only relationship he had that was like Crystal's devotion to Pegasus was with his brother, Mokuba. That wasn't the same though; Mokuba would never betray him. Seto's eyes widened as he realized that Crystal had probably felt the same way about Pegasus. He took her hand, wishing they had time to talk things over, "Come on, it's not safe to stay in one spot too long."

Crystal nodded, hiding everything she felt behind a mask of determination. She could examine her emotions after she'd found out where her family was.

The two kept running through the tunnels, now lit more frequently by torches, checking cells and avoiding random bad guys along the way. They reached an intersection and heard Maximillion's henchmen closing in. "Seto, what are we going to do?"Crystal asked, turning around. He wasn't there. "Seto?" she asked in a loud whisper. She heard a noise above her and glanced up to see Seto was on the ceiling.

Her eyes widened in amazement, but before she could ask how he got up there, she had to hide behind one of the suits of armor set up all over the dungeon. They fit in very nicely with the rest of the decor.

The henchmen met up at the corner, all of them breathing heavily. "We can't find them, we've checked every hallway."

"Just wait at the kid's cell," another one said, "They'll come,"

One went down one of the other corridors to keep looking, while the other two ran down the main tunnel to guard Mokuba's cell.

Crystal slipped out from behind the suit of armor and watched Seto land lightly on the ground. She smiled grimly at him and they took off after the two henchmen. They were finally going to find Mokuba!

* * *

**Author's Note (these are so much fun!): Sorry this chapter was so short (nvrmind, the chapter was shorter), but the last line was so "end of chapter-y" that I had to end it. The next chapter might be short too. I have a tendency to make a lot happen in a short amount of time. I'm like the people who wrote "Lost". Miss one episode and two of the main characters died, one came back to life, and there was a large explosion. But I digress. Please for the love of crap review! I feel so lonely sitting at my keyboard typing for nobody! :(**


	8. Chapter 8

**I'm just puting a little notice up here. I'm not sure which words are "strong" but as a warning I use the A word and the BA word. Just so you know. **

Seto snuck up behind one of the guards and knocked him out cold. The other started to reach for a gun, but Crystal slipped quietly behind him and pressed a certain spot on the back of his neck. He stiffened for a moment, before collapsing. She saw that the guard had landed funny, his wrist twisted up in an awkward position. Crystal noticed the gun was half out of its holster, and that the guard's finger had involuntarily tightened on the trigger a millisecond before the sound echoed through the endless tunnels.

_BANG!_

The bullet shot through the man's leg and cracked against the wall, knocking off some brick pieces. Her blood went cold as she realized the bullet would hit Seto. "Look out!" she cried, her hand jerking up as a warning.

The bullet changed its course and bounced off the wall mere centimeters from Seto's arm. Crystal sighed with relief, giving a nervous laugh. That was way too close!

Seto smiled weakly, his heart pounding in response to what had just happened. He'd seen the bullet coming straight at him. It should have hit him square in the chest. He should be dead. But at the last moment it had veered away, just missing him. How was that even possible. Seto looked at Crystal, who was kneeling next to the guard who'd been hit, the blood soaking into his pants and starting to pool on the floor. He could have sworn that when she raised her hand to warn him, a light had shone from the center of her palm and in her eyes. Seto shook his head; it was just his imagination. Some freak act of nature had moved the bullet, nothing more.

He left Crystal to watch over the injured guard, and ran down the hall to find Mokuba's cell. They had to get out of here before more of Pegasus's henchmen came to investigate the gunshot.

Seto looked into one of the cells and smiled. "Mokuba,"

His little brother's worried, careworn expression cleared and he stood up, grinning broadly, "Seto! It's really you!"

"Yeah, it's me,"

"I knew you'd come for me Seto!" he said, his eyes shinning. Mokuba clutched the locket he wore that held his brother's picture in it, "Always,"

"Sit tight kiddo," Seto told him, kneeling next to the lock and pulling his pick from his pocket, "I'll have you out of there soon,"

Crystal ran up, successful in trying to stop the guard's bleeding. Her bandages would hold long enough for someone to give him proper treatment. She'd wiped off her hands as best as she could on the guards suit, but they were still tinged red. Crystal grabbed a nearby torch and let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding. Now she had the light, there was no darkness around her now! Crystal held the torch so it would help Seto see enough to pick the lock. She smiled at Mokuba; he looked surprised for a moment that she was helping them, but smiled back.

"I've been expecting you," said a voice she knew whirled around, sparks flying from her torch, and Seto stood up behind her, his eyes glowing with anger. "I knew nothing would keep you from getting here Kaiba-boy," he turned and looked at Crystal, his eyes narrowing a little, "and I knew nothing would stop you from trying to help him,"

Seto's fists clenched, "If you knew we were coming, then you should know what I'm going to do to you for harming my little brother."

Maximillion laughed at this, and Crystal felt a deep sense of foreboding.

Seto glared at him, "What are you laughing about you snake?"

"You see Kaiba-boy," Maximillion said smoothly, a light beginning to shine from his Millenium Eye, "In my dungeon, in my castle, in my realm, the only person who gives threats is me,"

The light grew even stronger, and Mokuba cried out in shock.

When the light faded, Seto looked into his little brother's cell, "Mokuba!" he yelled, seeing his brother was lying unconscious on the floor. He called his name again, but Crystal knew Mokuba was gone. Maxim... Pegasus had locked him away in the Shadow Realm, a place no child should be kept.

She watched Mokuba's picture appear on the blank card Pegasus held, feeling a rage she hadn't known she possessed. "You bastard!" she yelled at him, her hatred glowing in her eyes.

"I'm still your father, and you will not speak to me like that, Crystal," Pegasus said, a note of warning in his voice.

"You're not my father!" Crystal screamed at him, "My dad died a long time ago!"

Pegasus's eyes narrowed, "Tred cautiously Crystal, I'm loosing patience with you,"

"Crystal, be careful" Seto warned, gripping her shoulder.

She shrugged him off, too full of anger to care about her own safety. "I'd rather be back in the darkness than live with a asshole like you!"

"Then go there until you change your mind!" he yelled at her, finally loosing his temper. The light shown from his eye and the shock cut through her rage. He was sending her back to the Shadow Realm! _But he promised_, whispered the broken girl inside her as vengeful Crystal left her alone to deal with what she'd done, _he promised he'd never hurt me. He promised he would never send me back._ Crystal watched Max... Pegasus's cold face as he tugged the spirit from her body. The torch dropped from her nerveless fingers and rolled away, spluttering in protest. _You swore you'd always protect me..._ she thought as her sight faded into darkness, _You promised..._

* * *

Seto caught Crystal's limp body before it hit the floor. If he hadn't seen the rise and fall of her chest, he would have assumed she was dead. "What did you do to them!" he gasped, unable to hide his shock and horror.

"It's just a simple magic trick, Kaiba-boy," Pegasus said. Holding two cards in his hand, one with his brother in it, the other with Crystal inside, one hand pressed against the card's surface and a look of grief on her face. "Now they're in a place where the locks can't be picked."

He gritted his teeth and glared at him. "You're mad!"

He still had the same amused smirk on his face, "And there they will remain until you defeat me in a duel."

"A duel against you. Now?" Seto asked, feeling a spark of hope. If there was one thing he was good at, it was duel monsters. "Fine, I'll do anything!"

Pegasus shook his head, "First you have to earn the right to challenge me by defeating Yugi Moto in a duel."

Seto's eyes widened, a feeling of doubt rising in him. Pegasus saw it and smiled wider, "If you can't defeat me, then their souls are mine for eternity!"

His mad laughter echoed through the dark dungeon halls.

* * *

**A.N.: Should I write about the duel Seto has with Yugi or not? Please comment so I know what you think.**


	9. Chapter 9

Crystal sat in the endless twilight, her hands covering her ears to blot out the sounds in the dark. The screams and slithers and evil laughter still came through. Tears leaked from her eyes and trickled down her cheeks. She was completely alone now; Wingweaver could not protect her. Her dear friend was one of the people screaming.

It was different this time in the Shadow Realm. Now _she_ was one of the lost souls trapped in their personal hells, one of the people she had pitied in her search for her brother. This was her worst nightmare. Stranded in the darkness, surounded by monsters, and so paralyzed with fear that she couldn't help the people she loved most. The darkness wasn't what scared her the most though, it was the unknown. The things that crept and crawled around her, cruel chuckles coming from their deformed mouths, the cries for help from those she loved, both past and present. Part of her wanted to see, but the other part was terrified at what she would find.

Crystal's screwed her eyes shut; at least the shadows behind her eyelids was natural, not like the evil smothering her. The darkness was absolute, there was no light, no warmth, no innocence, no mercy. This darkness seemed to press down on her, forcing the breath from her lungs. But it wasn't like a humid day; it was so cold, like death. She could feel it worming into her head, examining her deapest fears and desires. The Shadow Realm wasn't just a place, it was a thing, a cruel inteligence that wanted nothing more than to make you beg for an end to the nightmare it had created. She prayed it wouldn't turn its full attention on her, because she would be completely defenseless. It would take her soul and turn it into a cold lump of ugliness that hated the light as much as it did. Everything she was would be gone.

Crystal pressed her ears down harder as she heard Seto cry out in fear.

_It's just an illusion,_ she told herself_, Seto isn't here and neither is Mokuba._ Crystal had been trapped in the darkness for so many years she could feel the presense of those she knew within it. Pegasus must be keeping Mokuba in another place, hopefully one where there were no monsters or bad things, and the light still lived. Her parents weren't there, but she'd already known that deep down. They had passed many years ago. Her brother wasn't there either, but she knew he was still in this world. Maybe not alive as she knew living, but he was on _was_ somewhere on earth.

Wingweaver _was_ in the darkness though, and she feared her screams were no illusion. Crystal felt the Shadow Realm respond to her fears and the cries from the darkness soon came only from her friend and protector. They became clearer, begging for her help.

Crystal dissolved into helpless sobs. She couldn't call out or the monsters would come. Without Wingweaver, they would come in droves, ready to make up for all the years Wingweaver had held them back.

"Crystal!" she heard Wingweaver scream, sounding closer and more desperate than ever.

Her eyes flashed open and she stood, "Where are you!" she called out into the endless twilight.

Instantly all the rustles from the monsters and Wingweaver's pleas stopped. The silence was just as terrible as the noise.

Then the slithers and skitters and hisses and wicked giggles started up again, all of them heading towards her. She clasped her hands together in front of her, trying to stop her trembling. Crystal closed her eyes and took deep breaths to try to calm herself. It was better to die trying to save those you care about than live, knowing you left them alone to their fate.

The thought didn't stop her from screaming as the first tentacles wrapped around her legs.

* * *

Mokuba's eyes opened and he saw that he was in a different cell. This one was seamless and there was no lock on the cell door. He stood up hesitantly and looked around. Where was Seto, Crystal, and Pegasus? There was that bright light and then the strange feeling of being pulled out of his body. He walked over to the bars and gripped them, looking up and down the passage on either side. It stretched on as far as he could see.

"Mokuba?"

He jumped in surprise and looked into the cell across from him. It was dark, but Mokuba thought he could see a figure in it. The person stood up and walked to the bars. He had gray hair and wore green suspenders. Mokuba's eyes widened as he recognized him. "Mr. Moto? What are you doing here?"

Soloman shrugged, "I'm not sure exactly," he said, "Do you know where we are?"

Mokuba shook his head, "No, the last thing I remember is being in Pegasus's dungeons,"

"Pegasus?" Soloman asked, "That's the man who sent my grandson that video tape," at the look of confusion on Mokuba's face he continued, "Yugi was mailed a package that contained a videotape, a glove, and two star shaped pieces of metal. The last thing I remember is watching the tape,"

Mokuba shook the bars of his cell, and scowled when they didn't budge, "What do we do know?" he asked, hoping Mr. Moto had an idea.

"I've looked all over my cell and couldn't find any way out." the old man told him, "I haven't gotten hungry, thirsty, or tired, and I've been here quite some time. It seems the only thing we can do is wait for something to happen,"

Mokuba rested his head on the bars, a feeling of despair washing over him. How was Seto going to find him now?

* * *

Seto stood on the top step of Pegasus' castle, waiting for Yugi to show up. He reached into his pocket and felt the five star chips Pegasus had given him. Why was he doing this? He couldn't fathom why Pegasus wanted him to duel Yugi, but in truth he had been itching for a rematch.

He closed his eyes and remembered their first duel, and Yugi's impossible victory. Seto had summoned all three of his Blue Eyes White Dragons and was about to lay waste to Yugi's life points when Yugi had summoned the unstoppable Exodia the Forbidden One. Never before had the creature been called, and Yugi had claimed that it was his belief in the Heart of the Cards that had won him the duel.

Seto hadn't understood it until now. Now he had something to fight for, he could finally fight with a fire in his heart. This game wasn't just about power now, it was about saving the people he cared about.

His fists clenched harder than ever. At the moment he had no choice, but to play Pegasus' game. If he didn't make good on his promise to restore Mokuba and Crystal though, Seto would take great pleasure in separating Pegasus' soul from his body in his own way!

He opened his eyes and watched Yugi and his cheerleaders climb the last tier of stairs. "Yugi, I can't allow you to pass,"

Yugi looked up at him, frowning, "I have my ten star chips, so stand aside,"

"You may have enough star chips to qualify for the Duelist Kingdom Finals Yugi, but I can't allow you to face Pegasus, he's mine! You and I are going to have one final duel,"

"Step aside, Kaiba!"

Seto glared at him, "Not until you agree to duel me!"

"I'm not dueling you, I don't have to!"

He laughed, "So, no longer confident in your "Heart of the Cards", or do you think you can't beat me without Exodia? That it, isn't it Yugi? You don't think you can beat me a second time. You coward!" Seto hoped he could anger Yugi enough to agree to a duel, but the only ones he was angering was Wheeler and Tea.

"Lay off!" Tea shouted at him, "He doesn't need to prove anything,"

Joey raised his fist at him, "You want a duel smart-mouth, I'll take you on!" Seto laughed at Joey's big mouth. Wheeler was all bark, no bite. "Don't laugh!" Wheeler shouted, almost frothing at the mouth. It was so amusing to get Wheeler riled up. He actually had to be restrained by Tristan and a kid with white hair.

"Don't forget, in your last duel Kaiba smarted you," the white haired kid said.

Joey slumped dejectedly, and Seto noticed that his duelist glove was full of star chips. "Ha! I can't believe the little barking chihuahua already has ten star chips! Did you earn them yourself or did Yugi throw you a few bones?"

Joey literally growled at him, "Don't call me a chihuahua!"

Seto snickered, enjoying himself, "Don't let him snap his chain. There's no challenge in humiliating you again Joey. There's only one player who's ever beaten me in Duel Monsters, and that's Yugi," his smirk faded, "Yugi, you said that you won by tapping into the Heart of the Cards, and for a long time I didn't know what that meant. But now, I think I do, and it took Pegasus to show me," He reached into his shirt and pulled out his locket. Now he had a reason to put his heart into the cards. There wasn't a power on earth that would stop him from saving them! Not Pegasus. Not Yugi.

"For the first time Yugi, I can play with fire and passion in my heart!"

"I can feel it," Yugi said, his eyes wide.

"Yugi! You can't accept this duel!"

"You already have enough star chips,"

Seto could see Yugi wavering, so he continued talking, "I've changed Yugi, and I deserve a rematch. Give me a chance to play you now Yugi, for the right reasons,"

Yugi's eyes closed for a moment, and when they opened again there was a new confidence in them. "Kaiba I accept your duel. We'll see what you've really learned. Just name the place,"

Seto smiled, trying not to let his relief show, "Our dueling field has been prepared," he told him, picking up his briefcase and turning away, "Follow me,"

As he walked towards their dueling field, Seto's eyes narrowed in determination. With his new faith in the Heart of the Cards, he would save Crystal and Mokuba, and make Pegasus pay for what he had done to them!

* * *

Author's Note: Sorry for basically copying the dialogue from the TV series, but at least I had some original stuff in the beginning! Next chapter will be just the duel, and the talking at the end of the duel, so I'm sorry for the boringness (is that a word?) of the chapter in advance. It'll probably be a while before I update, since I gotta watch the show so I can remember how the duel went. Once again, I apologize for the blandness of this chapter.


	10. Chapter 10

**This is just a play by play of the duel. Basically filler, nothing really important will happen, just so you know. Anything I bold is Seto's thoughts. Not this obviously, but everything else.**

**Another note. There is a - thingy near the end of the chapter, and there is some character developement there. It varies from the series and makes Seto seem like less of an ass. (this isn't Seto's thoughts either! Jeez!)**

They go to the annex roof "I will beat you!"

"No I will beat you!"

You know how duels are.

Anyway, Seto summons Ryokushin in attack mode.

Yugi summons Curse of Dragon.

Bye Bye Ryokushin.

Seto's down to 1600 life points.

Seto summons Swordstalker and its points are upped to 2400 because of Ryokushin's untimely demise.

It attacks Curse of Dragon, but it disappears! Woa its so magical! Turns out Yugi played a Monster Replace magic card (which should be illegal since it was Seto's turn) which let Yugi switch his Curse of Dragon with his Dark Magician.

Swordstalker is destroyed and Seto has 1500 life points left.

Yugi summons his Curse of Dragon from his hand, but decides not to obliterate Seto's life points. Huh?

Seto summons La Jinn the Mystical Gennie of the Lamp and Yugi doesn't suspect anything, despite the fact that the monster is weaker than both of his creatures and is in attack mode!

Anyway, Yugi attacks and Seto activates a trap (big surprise right!) called the Ancient Lamp. It protects his gennie and sends the attack back to Yugi's side of the field.

Curse of Dragon is toasted and Yugi's down to 1500 life points, just like Seto.

Seto equips a spell card called Despell (what a creative name) to La Jinn (its not an equip card!). Can you guess what Despell does? If you can't, I'm very sorry for you. The Despell card destroys Yugi's Swords of Revealing Light (Despell only works on the field, not in your opponents hand!).

Yugi plays the Eye of Truth and OMZ! he finds out that Seto has a Blue Eyes (big surprise).

Yugi then plays the Mystic Box. This card destroys the Ancient Lamp, regardless of the fact that its a trap and the Mystic Box targets monsters. Yugi also gets to keep control of his Dark Magician (WTF?)

Dark Magician blows up La Jinn and lowers Seto's life points to 800.

Seto plays Saggi the Dark Clown.

Yugi recalls his Dark Magician (this is not pokemon! You can't do that!) and plays Gia the Fierce Knight.

Gia attacks Saggi and blows him up.

Then OMG Gia blows up too! So does the Dark Magician!

Turns out that Seto infected Saggi with his Crush Card Virus (not how the card works! Who wrote this duel for goodness sakes!) All of Yugi's monsters with an attack weaker than 1500 are infected.

Yugi plays Silver Fang in defense mode.

Seto plays Battle Ox in attack mode.

As Seto would say, "Your puppy has been put down"

Yugi summons Griffore and equips it with the Horn of the Unicorn.

Battle Ox is ground beef (you can tell I'm really bored). Seto is down to 600 life points

Seto restores his life points to 900 with the trap card Gift of the Mystical Elf.

Seto then summons the Blue Eyes White Dragon! OMZ!

Griffore goes BOOM! and Yugi is down to 400 life points.

Yugi summons his Giant Soldier of Stone.

Then Seto finally gets his Polymerization and combines his Blue Eyes to create the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon "A monster without peer!"

Yugi almost wets himself and Seto has a crazy laughing attack.

You know, if Yugi had bothered to put a Tribute to the Doomed or something in his deck, he could destroy the Ultimate Dragon no sweat. This seems to be a very big flaw for the King of Games to have...

Yugi's Giant Soldier of Stone is reduced to rubble.

"Kick butt Yuug!" You have to love Joey!

Yugi dramatically draws his card and its...

Kuriboh. Dang that sucks. Wait a minute though, Yugi is laughing... crazy much?

Oh it turns out that Kuriboh can reproduce asexually... wow... just kidding, Yugi used Multiply.

Seto attacks, but his humongous dragons isn't strong enough to defeat the brown cotton balls.

Now Yugi combines the Living Arrow and the Mammoth Graveyard to bind the Mammoth Graveyard to Seto's Ultimate Dragon (cheater!)

Every turn the Ultimate Dragon loses 1200 attack points. Seto keeps on desperately trying to destroy the cute little fuzz balls protecting Yugi, but the multply faster than he can eliminate them. Seto looks really shell shocked.

Yugi summons his Celtic Guardian to finish off Seto's dragon. He only loped off one head though (this is so wrong!)

(taking a moment to be serious) **I failed them! I failed Mokuba and I failed Crystal. They depended on me to save them from Pegasus and I let them down! He was rotten to the core, just like his dragon (I had to include this line. Seto's thoughts at this part of the duel are so sad and sweet. I suggest you rewatch it). **His eyes closed**. I can't lose. I won't lose! **

Seto backs up so that he's standing on the very edge of the roof. If Yugi attacks, the shock waves may send him off the roof to his death.

Seto uses his Monster Reborn to bring back a Blue Eyes head. If Yugi doesn't attack Seto now, he will lose and be unable to save his grandpa.

Yugi almost attacks, but calls it back at the last second.

**I knew Yugi wouldn't have the guts to attack me. It was close though, Yugi almost destroyed my dragon. There was a feeling of guilt in him over the trick he had pulled, but it needed to be done. If he hadn't won, Mokuba and Crystal would have been lost forever.** "Yugi!" shouted the geek squad as they rushed over to join Tea. Yugi was on his hands and knees, his shoulders shaking.

* * *

"I almost couldn't control it! The other presence wanted to win so badly." Yugi paused as sobs racked him, "I'm afraid of this spirit inside me, so afraid I will never duel again!"

_Other presense? _Seto thought_, He must be mad!_

"Yugi," Tea said softly, her voice chocked with tears, "I'm sorry, about your grandpa. But you couldn't have hurt anyone, even to save him. You may have lost the duel, but you did the right thing. Your grandpa wouldn't have wanted to be rescued if it put someone else in danger,"

"Then it seems he got his wish," Seto said, his voice cold, "We were both fighting for our loved ones Yugi. The difference between us is that I would do what needed to be done. If you had attacked, you would be entering Pegasus's castle, not me. But you was too weak to finish me,"

"He showed you compassion!" Tea cried out, her voice cracking as she turned to face him, "Which is more than you deserve!"

"He lost the game,"

"The game! He may have lost the duel, but at least he still has his heart! Not like you Seto Kaiba!" Tea's eyes were bright with tears, but she wasn't finished, "You've spent so much time with your machines that you can't remember what being human is about!"

Seto's eyes narrowed in anger, but Tea continued, "Yugi has a good heart, he has us. What do you have Seto Kaiba?"

He was silent as her words sank in. "What do you have at the end of the day Kaiba! Tell me!"

Seto picked up the ten star chips scattered on the ground. When he looked back up at her, there was no emotion on his face, "I have Mokuba,"

He picked up his briefcase and walked away, his coat billowing in the wind.


	11. Chapter 11

**This chapter depends on you, the reader, having watched the TV series. If you haven't, I suggest you do (at least the first season) before you continue, because I do give away a major plot point.**

Pegasus sat alone at his table, using his Millenium Eye to monitor what was happening on his island. So, Kaiba had defeated little Yugi. He wasn't surprised at Kaiba's underhand tactics; he would have sunk to any level to save his brother. What was surprising was that he wanted to save Crystal almost as much as Mokuba. Despite his mind reading powers Pegasus hadn't been able to tell why exactly Kaiba wanted to rescue Crystal, but he had noticed that many people seemed to have a soft spot for her. There was an innocence about her that astonished others. She still liked stuffed animals, watched cartoons, and had sugar highs on a dayly basis. She was the kind of person who would find a hundred dollar bill on the ground and give it to a homeless person. Her purity of heart seemed to shine from her beautiful blue-gold eyes, and Pegasus knew from reading the minds of others and delving into his own thoughts, that people liked to think that the world was still as innocent as she was.

However, once you looked past her warm exterior, you could see that there was a deep pain in her, a loneliness that even she didn't know about. Even more people were drawn to that, feeling a kinship with her pain more than her innocence.

Pegasus closed his eye, and drank deeply from the glass of wine he held. He could still vividly remember his first meeting with Crystal, and how he'd let her gentle, broken spirit into his life with no resistance.

**FLASHBACK! YAY!**

He had been alone in the same room he was in now, going over once again what Shadi had said to him. _You are destined to bring back someone who has been lost for many years. She awaits you in the endless darkness. To get there, you must evoke the power within your Millenium Eye. You must hurry, for every second you delay the shadows wear away more of her soul. _Pegasus had tried to get more information from the mysterious Egyptian, but Shadi had not told him how to use his new powers or where the "endless darkness" was, only that it was called the Shadow Realm and the girl's name was Crystal. Eventually he had left with more questions than answers, still shaking from the pain of his new Eye.

Pegasus clenched his hands. Not only couldn't he find the woman he was supposed to save, he could no longer find the realm that had allowed him to glimpse his darling Cecilia. He stood and paced, racking his brains for a solution, but he became more frustrated with every step he took. Finally his temper overflowed and his fist pounded the table. "Take me to the Shadow Realm you stupid eye!"

He lost he balance as the table vanished. Pegasus lay on the ground for a moment in astonishment, then quickly stood up, looking around him in awe. All around him shadows twisted and swirled, changing from purple to red to black as he watched. His jaw dropped as he saw doors forming, then vanishing a few seconds later. He could feel the evil in this place, but there was a terrible beauty to it.

Behind him, Pegasus heard a cry of fear and he whirled around, not expecting what he would see. Two young women were fighting hords of shifting shadows, one with a spear that looked like it was made of light, the other was conguring balls of white fire and hurling them at the grasping darkness.

Now that he looked again, Pegasus could see that shadows were reaching for him too, but pulling back a few feet away, as if they'd be burned if they touched him. He shuddered, then ran towards the two women, hoping he could help.

As he ran, the one throwing flames went down, clutching her side where the shadows had torn her skin. Now the one with the spear stood alone against the darkness, expertly twirling her weapon as she prepared for the next wave of attackers. Pegasus gritted his teeth, feeling a power surge from his eye. "Leave them alone!"

The shadows twisted and writhed as if in pain before melting back in with their surroundings. By the time he got there, every attacker was gone. The woman was leaning against her spear, gasping for breath. She wiped the sweat from her brow and looked at him with a raised eyebrow. The reason for her dubious expression was quite obvious. He was wearing a suit and she was wearing... he didn't really know what to call it (I can't describe it at all! Go to my profile and look at the pic of Wingweaver if you want to know).

"Thank you for saving us, stranger," The woman said, only now Pegasus could see she was much younger than he had thought. She couldn't be any older than 15! Not only that, he could tell she was speaking in another language he'd never heard, but it sounded like English to him!

The other girl stood up, the wound on her side shining slightly before fading, leaving her skin unblemished. She looked older than the girl who held the spear, not due to any imperfections in her face, but because of the wisdom in her strange, golden eyes. "It is fortunate that you arrived here in time to scare them away," she said, speaking in the same language that he'd never heard, but could understand perfectly, "We would not have lasted much longer,"

Pegasus was unable to answer, because his jaw was slack from amazement. "You... You have wings!" he spluttered.

She smiled and the young girl giggled. "Yes I do. However, I find your Millenium Eye more surprising,"

The girl's eyes widened, at she looked at him closer. A broad smile lit up her face. "Has there been any word from the Lost Pharaoh?"

"Who?"

A troubled look crossed her face, "The Pharaoh. The one who was lost after the time of great darkness!"

The older woman frowned at the baffled look on his face. "What year is it?" she asked.

"2010 (I'm just going to use this year)"

"2010 of what?" asked the girl.

The woman with wings touched her companion's shoulder to silence her questions before looking at him again. "How long ago were the pyramids built?"

"Umm..." Pegasus said, caught off guard by their question. The girl holding the spear looked at the older woman in surprise. She was about to say something, when the girl with wings held a finger to her lips. "Wait, Crystal,"

_Crystal! So this is the girl I'm meant to rescue!_

How long ago were the pyramids built? These two couldn't have been in this place that long! They were still young. The eldest couldn't be over 25! "They were built thousands of years ago."

"Thousands," Crystal whispered, her hands gripping her spear so tight her knuckles turned white.

The woman with wings sighed, "I was afraid of this,"

"What?" he looked at the two of them, "You couldn't have been here very long! Your both younger than I am!"

"Looks can be decieving," the woman said, "I am as old as the creation of light, and Crystal is as old as the pryamids. We came here, body and soul, to look for Crystal's brother, the Pharaoh of Egypt. I am immortal, and as long as we are together, Crystal will not die as long as she is not murdered, poisoned, or taken by illness." _Immortal? How can this be? Shadi said that Crystal had been lost in the darkness for a long time, but a thousand years! It can't be true!_

Crystal's spear clattered to the floor, her blue eyes bright with tears. "He's still alive! I know he is!" she turned to her companion, "You believe me, don't you Wingweaver?"

"Crystal, you heard him, it's been thousands of years. I don't see how..."

"I would know if he were dead!" she interupted, tears spilling down her cheeks.

Wingweaver gently put a hand on Crystal's shoulder, "Remember what I've told you about hope Crystal. It is a powerful thing, capable of moving mountains. But it can also fool the heart, and cause much pain," Wingweaver pulled her into an embrace and held her as she cried, "We've searched everywhere Crystal, in this realm and on Earth. I think it's time for you let him go and move on,"

"No," Crystal mummbled, her voice hoarse, "I know he's alive, and I have a feeling that something terrible will happen if I leave. I've been looking for him for thousands of years, a few more couldn't hurt."

Pegasus stood there, feeling awkward to intrude on such a private conversation. Wingweaver glanced over at him. "What is your name?"

"Maximillion Pegasus,"

"Would you be able to get us out of here? We can't leave on our own."

Pegasus nodded, "That's actually why I came here. I was told I had to rescue Crystal from the darkness," he looked around at the swirling shadows around them, "Only, I don't even know how I got here, let alone how to return,"

Wingweaver smiled, "Just wish it, and if its in the item's power, it will do it."

"Oh," Pegasus smiled weakly. Such a simple solution to a problem he had thought about for a week! "Okay, then. I want us to go back to the real world,"

Pegasus' vision turned black and eventually blurred back to show he was back home. He stood up from where he'd fallen on the floor and looked around. A few feet away Crystal was beginning to sit up, but there was no sign of Wingweaver.

He walked over to her, and saw that tears were running down her face and her hands were covering her eyes. "Are you alright Crystal?"

She nodded. "It's just so bright!"

"Keep your eyes closed and I'll try to find someplace darker," he told her, helping her to her feet. Pegasus led her to his bedroom and had her sit on his bed.

Her eyes cracked open a little, "That's better," she breathed in relief, wiping the tears from her face.

"Umm... Crystal,"

"Yes Maximillion," she looked up at him, her eyes still watering.

"I... I didn't bring Wingweaver back. I'll try again, but I don't know if I'll be able to find her.

Surprisingly, Crystal smiled a little, "You did bring us back." At the look of confusion on his face she continued. "How do I explain this? You see, Wingweaver and I share the same body."

"Wh... What?" Pegasus gawked at her. This was one too many shocking developements for one day! "Anything else unexpected you want to drop on me?"

"Well..." she said, letting the thought hang for a moment, "I can fly." The air behind her shimmered for a moment, before six white wings appeared there. On closer expection though, some were tinged blue or gold.

He blinked. "That's... great! Can you see through walls or turn invisible?"

"No," she said. "That would just be silly."

"Of course," Pegasus said, laughing to himself. Maybe he was hallucinating.

A loud growl came from Crystal's stomach, making them both jump. "Do you have anything I could eat?"

"Yes I do. Could you wait here a moment?"

She nodded, and Pegasus set off for the kitchen. He returned a few minutes later carrying a PB&J sandwhich and some Kool aid. Crystal looked at the sandwich dubiously before taking a tentative bite. Her eyes almost bugged out of her head, and she looked at it reverantly. "What is this?" she exclaimed, wolfing it down.

He chuckled at Crystal's enthusiasm. "A peanut butter and jelly sandwich."

"Mmmm..." she smiled dreamily after she finished the sandwich. Crystal looked at the Kool aid he held. "What's that?"

Pegasus handed it to her. "We call it Kool aid."

She took a sip and her eyes widened again. "It's so sweet! Like drinking sugarcane!"

"Sugar is a main ingredient."

Crystal licked her lips, and smiled at him, "Thank you for being so kind Maximillion. It's been a long time since I've experienced such kindness from anyone except Wingweaver." She yawned deeply, and Pegasus noticed her eyelids were drooping.

He took her glass and plate. "Why don't you go to sleep? You look pretty tired."

Crystal yawned again, "I haven't slept in thousands of years." She lay down and was asleep in seconds.

Pegasus crept out of the room and quietly shut the door.

As the days turned into weeks, Crystal became used to the light and she began to smile more, though her sleep was often troubled. No matter how hard Pegasus tried though, he couldn't make her laugh. Crystal's eyes were still dull and her smiles never lit them.

It was two weeks after Pegasus rescued Crystal and he was watching cartoons. To others, it was childish and immature, but to him, it was a balm for the ache in his heart. Watching the animated animals helped him forget Cecilia's absense, if only for a few minutes.

Behind him he heard a soft giggle and he turned around. "Oh! I'm sorry for disturbing you Maximillion," Crystal said, blushing, "I heard some... odd noises in here. I'll go now."

"Wait!" Pegasus said, beckoning her with his hand, "Come here." She walked over, her eyes flickering to the TV. "Do you like them?" he asked, gesturing at the screen.

She nodded, smiling a little, "They're so cute and silly!"

"I like them too," he grinned at her. "Pull up a seat,"

They'd sat there for hours, both forgeting their troubles; at least for one afternoon.

**End of Flashback**

Pegasus sighed. When had things become so complicated? It had all started with good intentions. He had only separated Wingweaver from her and erased Crystal's memories so she could be happy. Never in his life had Pegasus met such a troubled person. Crystal would never be happy with the past she'd had. He'd had nightmares from merely masking them. Her horrible life was better left in the dark, but Wingweaver couldn't help bringing back memories since she was such an essential part of her life. His hand had been forced, there was no other way to keep her here with him, where she belonged. Crystal was his daughter. She was a sign that he would revive Cecilia and rebuild his life. He had lost all hope and then Crystal had appeared from the darkness to give him the strength to do what he had to do. She was his guardian angel, but now Crystal was back in Shadow Realm because of his temper, and she hated him.

He should bring her back. It wasn't right to keep her there. Part of him knew how wrong it was, and the pain she must be going through, but a crueler part that had been created from his longing for Cecilia and the shadow of a presense in his Millenium Eye wouldn't let him protect her.

It didn't matter if she hated him now. Once he ressurected Cecilia, he could give her a family, which was the deepest desire of her heart. He could make her forget what he had done to bring her a mother and get rid of Wingweaver. He would have Cecilia and the two of them would have the beautiful girl they had always wanted.

"Crystal, I promise I will bring you home soon." Pegasus opened his eye and looked up at the painting he had made of his beloved wife. "Cecilia. Just a little bit longer, my love," he whispered. "Soon I will have all the pieces I need to bring you back to me."

* * *

Author's Note!" Wow! So many words. Phew! Hopefully this will be enough for a few days. I'm going to Wisconson, land of dairy products, until Wednesday-ish, and will be away from a computer until Wednesday-ish (I'm crying inside!). I procrastinated this chapter so I had to stay up late typing it (this is typical me behavior). Hopefully you enjoy it. Btw, I will explain more about the Millenium Eye thing after the tournament thingy is over (my vocabulary skills make you speechless, right?). Please review.


	12. Chapter 12

Seto pushed past the man trying to block his way, and passed the doors into the castle dining room. It was time for Pegasus to keep his promise. The man was sitting at the end of a long table and looked up with an annoyed expression on his face at the intrusion. It cleared when he saw who it was. "Kaiba-boy," Pegasus greeted warmly, standing with his glass in hand, "So you defeated little Yugi and wish to duel me now?"

He gritted his teeth at Pegasus' pleasantries. "Yes," Seto said simply.

"Very well," Pegasus said, drinking the last of his wine. He set the empty glass down and looked past him. "Croquet, prepare the dueling arena,"

"Yes, sir," said the man who'd tried to stop him from entering, before leaving.

Seto looked at Pegasus for a long time before he asked him a question that had been bothering him since he had put Crystal's spirit in a card. "Why did you take Crystal? She trusted you and look at what you've done!"

Pegasus seemed to look through him, "It will all be worth it in the end."

"What is it that you're willing to give up your daughter for?" he exclaimed, his fists clenching (I think I've used the word clench or a form of it in every chapter I've written!).

"I won't be giving her up," Pegasus told him, a small, triumphant smile on his face.

Seto's eyes widened as he understood. "You're going to make her forget all of this,"

"Yes. Crystal often remember's things she shouldn't; things better left forgotten."

"How many times have you done this to her?" he snarled at him. There was no one to protect her from Pegasus on the island. She was isolated from any help; trapped with her crazy father.

Pegasus frowned a little, "This is the first time I've done something like this."

"I find that hard to believe. You could do anything you want to her, and she'd never remember!"

"You would never be able to understand why I did this, Kaiba. Eventually, everything will work out just the way I planned."

"The end justifies the means," Seto whispered, quoting what he had previously thought a good philosophy for business.

"Precisely."

Seto stood there speachless until Croquet came in a minute later. "The dueling field is ready, sir. The last contestants have also arrived."

"Excellent," Pegasus smiled brightly, "You're going to have an audience to witness you lose the duel, and your soul."

"I will not lose," Seto said, responding to the trash talk. "I'll defeat you, and you will restore Mokuba and Crystal. Not only that, you're also going to let her go free. You will never mess with Crystal's memories again."

"As you wish. You'll be losing anyway," he chuckled, and walked out the door.

Seto glared at his receding back until Petasus turned a corner and he lost sight of him. "If you'll follow me Mister Kaiba," Croquet said. "I will take you to the dueling field."

As Seto followed Croquet, he realized that Pegasus had never told him what it was that he wanted so badly.

* * *

**I'm not going to write this play-by-play, because nothing really happens in it. You just learn that Pegasus uses toons and they are much better (and cuter) than the normal monsters. Seto loses his soul (:( I feel sad inside). After that duel there are the preliminiaries (SPELLING FTW!) in which Yugi and Joey win. Then there are the semi-finals in which Yugi wins. Then Yugi gets to go up against Pegasus. I will continue writing from here, since the two character's whose perspectives I write in are both out of commission. Actually, I can write about what happens when Seto shows up in the cells. AWESOME! I'll do that first.**

* * *

Seto groaned and stood up, looking at the cell around him. What happened? One minute he had just lost the duel against Pegasus and then...

_I lost_. Seto bowed his head in shame. He'd let down Mokuba. He'd let down Crystal. Now they were all in Pegasus' cluches. Seto slammed his fist into the wall in anger. I blew it!

He heard a voice cry out in surprise on the other side of the wall and gasped in response. "Mokuba!"

"Seto!" his brother asked in amazement.

He ran to the cell bars and tried to look into the cell next to him. Seto could just see Mokuba's smiling face on the other side. "Seto, it's you!"

He grinned at him and nodded, reaching a hand through the bars, to take his brother's hand. Seto saw Mokuba's face fall a little. "Pegasus got you too?"

Seto's closed his eyes and leaned his head against the bars. "I'm sorry Mokuba. I couldn't beat him."

"It's alright bro," Mokuba said, his eyes gentle.

"Excuse me," said a voice across the aisle. He looked up and saw Yugi's grandfather standing in a cell of his own. "Is my grandson alright?"

"Yes. He's in the semi-finals."

Solomon Moto smiled, "We've still got a chance then. Yugi's fighting for the people he cares about, and that's something that Pegasus can't overcome."

Seto shrugged. He now understood where Yugi got his beliefs about the Heart of the Cards from. Then he remembered something. "Where is Crystal?"

Mokuba looked at him in surprise. "Crystal?"

"She's not here." They all whirled around to look at Pegasus as he walked down the passage. "I'm keeping her somewhere else until the tournament is over. You're a bad influence on her."

"You're one to talk about being a bad influence," Solomon said.

Pegasus ignored him. "The Shadow Realm is enormous. I prefer my prisoners in one place."

"What about Crystal?" Seto demanded.

"I know her well enough to know where she is in there. It's not an ideal place to put a young girl, but she'll be fine. Crystal's strong; she's recovered once from being in it, she will again." Pegasus began to walk away, his form fading.

"You said that you'd never done this to her before!" Seto yelled at him.

"I haven't," he replied, his voice fading into nothing.

Seto sighed, more confused than ever. There was nothing left he could do to change what was happening. Seto's hands gripped the bars. He hated it when he couldn't control his future.

* * *

**Play by Play! No thoughts in this one (except for my own :)). Btw way, this is only part of the duel, the other half will be later on in the chapter. After this part of the duel, you read Crystal's perspective. Don't miss it. :)**

The dueling banter goes on for like 15 minutes! OMG!

Yugi goes first. He plays a card facedown and a monster face down.

Pegasus tells him he laid down a Beaver Warrior. 8o He also knows that his facedown card is Horn of the Unicorn.

Pegasus puts a card of his own facedown and plays Red Archery Girl in defense mode.

Yugi attacks Red Archery Girl with his Beaver Warrior equiped with Horn of the Unicorn.

Pegasus activates a trap card known as Tears of a Mermaid. It destroys the Horn of the Unicorn and makes Beaver Warrior too weak to defeat Pegasus' monster.

Pegasus destroys the beaver with his mermaid.

Yugi is down to 1800 life points.

Yugi places a monster in defense mode and ends his turn.

Pegasus plays Ryu Ran in defense mode and switches Red Archery Girl to defense mode too.

Yugi draws a Summoned Skull, which Pegasus points out (Maximillion Pegasus has the same powers as Patrick Jane on the Mentalist. Just saying!).

For some reason that's how they end the first part of the duel. How odd.

Anyways, Yugi plays the Spellbinding Circle trap (facedown) and puts his Summoned Skull in defense mode.

"Goody," (is Pegasus gay? You'd think he was after listening to him for 2 minutes!).

Pegasus switches Ryu Ran into attack mode and attacks Yugi's Summoned Skull.

Yugi activates his trap card, stopping Ryu Ran and reducing its attack to 1500.

Yugi attacks Ryu Ran, but Pegasus plays Trap Displacement, switching the Spellbinding Circle to Summoned skull. Ryu Ran's attack is restored and Summoned skull's attack is reduced to 1800.

Pegasus attacks Summoned Skull with his dragon and Yugi is reduced to 1400 life points.

Yugi puts a monster in defense mode.

Pegasus plays Toon World, turning all his monsters into toons.

Manga Ryu Ran attacks Yugi's defensive monster. He then puts Toon Mermaid into attack mode and ends his turn.

Yugi attacks the mermaid with his Celtic Guardian, but the clam catches his attack (WTF?).

The Celtic Guardian is destroyed.

Pegasus lays two cards down (trap/spell cards).

Yugi puts a monster in defense position.

Pegasus plays the trap card Gorgon's Eye. It's a permenant trap that turns Yugi's defensive monsters into stone, and when they are destroyed, half of their defense is subtracted from Yugi's life points.

He then plays Doppleganger, the copy card. It takes the form of Yugi's Summoned Skull, and Pegasus turns him into the Toon Summoned Skull, possibly the most demented cartoon ever drawn.

Toon Summoned Skull attacks Yugi's monster, subtracting 500 points from his life points.

Yugi's down to 900.

Yugi plays his Dark Magician in attack mode and hids it under the Magical Hats. He then uses the "Mind Shuffle" thingy so Pegasus can't read his mind.

Pegasus attacks the wrong hat and is very pissed off.

Yugi play the Living Arrow facedown and switches.

Pegasus plays Magic Neutralizing Force, wiping out the Magical Hats and revealing the Dark Magician.

Pegasus attacks it with the Toon Summoned Skull, but Yugi plays the Living Arrow, destroying Toon World, and protects his Dark Magician with the trap he laid earlier: Mirror Force.

All of Pegasus' toons are destroyed. Pegasus has 600 Life Points left.

Pegasus is a sore loser so he sends the duel into the Shadow Realm (asshole).

Yugi draws a card and ends his turn.

Pegasus draws and plays Dark Eyes Illusionist.

Yugi plays Curse of Dragon and attacks Pegasus' monster.

Dark Eyes Illusionist uses its special ability to paralyze the attack.

Pegasus then plays the Dark Illusion ritual card, sacraficing his monster to summon Relinquished.

Relinquished sucks up Curse of Dragon, gaining its attack/defense points.

Yugi attacks with his Dark Magician, and loses 500 life points since it was his monster that was destroyed.

He's down to 400 life points.

Relinquished sucks up the Dark Magician.

Yugi plays a card face down and puts Feral Imp in defense mode (where is Gorgon's Eye at the moment?)

Pegsaus attacks, pushing Yugi over the edge and leaving Yami to duel alone. :(

* * *

**I figured I should probably apologize in advance for how the segments of this chapter don't line up. I kinda jump back and forth in time, so don't get too confuzzled :)**

Crystal lay on the floor, barely breathing. If her body had been placed in the Shadow Realm like the first time she'd been trapped here, she would be shredded to ribbons. The monsters had eventually given up trying to kill her after they noticed their claws and teeth went right through her. It had taken an excrutiatingly long time though, and she was still weak with pain. Crystal tried to sit up, but collapsed again, her head spinning.

She lay there, shuddering in agony for a few minutes before trying to get up again. It wasn't so bad this time. Crystal wobbled to her feet, staggering forward. A blinding pain raked across her back, and she fell back down, forcing herself not to scream. If she did, all the monsters would come back. The deformed creature that attacked her quickly lost intrest and slithered away. Crystal lay curled in the fetal position, gasping for breath. Sweat ran down her face, mingling with her pained tears.

She pushed herself up again, her arms trembling with the effort. She was too weak now to stand, so she crawled forward. The reason for her movement was the thing formed in the wall of her prison. A door. All Crystal had to do was open it, and she'd be out of her nightmare. She reached up and grabbed the knob with both hands, gradulaly turning it until it clicked. Crystal permitted herself a small, hopeful smile.

It faded quickly.

There was dead silence at the click. The monsters had realized that their prey was getting away. Crystal quickly crawled through the door, slamming it shut just before their hideous noises reached it. There was the sound of claws and teeth and crazed beating on the other side, but the door didn't budge.

She crawled a little ways from the door and stopped, trying to catch her breath. Even though she'd escaped her own little piece of hell, there were still plenty of monsters slinking through the Shadow Realm, and she'd pissed quite a few of them off.

Crystal lay on the shifting floor for a few minutes. Eventually she managed to stand up, a little unsteadily, and look around. Something was happening. She could see the shadows of other lost souls around her, appearing from the shadows and weaving about restlessly. "What are you doing Pegasus?" she whispered.

As if in answer, a large section of the floor in front of her rose up suddenly. Crystal rolled head over heals, eventually coming to a stop, propped up on her elbows with a startled look on her face. Why did this place have to knock her down the moment she stood up?

She struggled back to her feet and her jaw dropped as she saw what had risen from the ground. It was a dueling field! _So Pegasus broke another promise,_ she noted grimly,_ Never bring another person to the Shadow Realm_. The poor soul Pegasus had brought to this black pit was Yugi.

Crystal listened to their conversation with great interest. It seemed she wasn't the only one sharing a body with another spirit. Her eyes widened with horror as she realized why Pegasus had brought the duel into the realm. He was trying to make Yugi so weak that he couldn't keep up his Mind Shuffle, overtaxing him until his soul was torn and dispersed throughout the Shadow Realm.

A few turns later Yugi was exhausted, barely able to stand as he drew his card. He placed it facedown, played Feral Imp in defense mode, and ended his turn. Crystal saw the glint in Pegasus' eye and screamed a warning at Yugi, but he couldn't hear her. She could only watch helplessly as Pegasus destroyed Yugi's monster, sending his soul spinning into the darkness nearby.

Crystal ran toward where he lay, the shadows already stretching their greedy fingers around his motionless figure. She wrapped her arms around him and dragged him away from the writhing blackness. His head rolled limply on her shoulder when she paused, trying to fight off her own exhaustion.

A deep growl came from behind her, and Crystal hunched protectively over Yugi's body. He was much more vulnerable than she was; if one of the creatures attacked him, his soul would be shredded and he'd never find peace. There was even a chance he'd become a monster himself.

Instead of the raking claws she expected, there was a snarl that turned into a whine. Crystal looked behind her and was blinded by the bright light shining from a familiar figure. "Wingweaver?" she exclaimed, a broad smile spreading across her face.

Wingweaver smiled back, "Are you two OK?"

"I am," she said, looking down at Yugi, "I'm not so sure about Yugi though, he's unconscious."

"He must be weak for his very soul to be unresponsive," Wingweaver frowned, looking worried, "Keep an close eye on him while I dispatch these shadows."

Crystal winced and looked away as Wingweaver shone again, driving away the darkness. She gently laid Yugi down and brushed the hair away from his face. Her breath caught in her chest as she saw the long fracture running along his forehead and down the bridge of his nose (in case you haven't figured it out, you don't bleed in the Shadow Realm, since its your soul. Before, Crystal would have died from the attacks on her, because her body was also in the Shadow Realm. That's also why she's such a big target for the monsters and such, 'cause they still think they can kill her. Just so you know). His soul was starting to break. She pressed her hand to it, making it shimmer and heal; for the time being. Her gaze drifted up to the dueling arena, where Pegasus was mocking the other spirit sharing Yugi's body. Crystal turned away, tears in her eyes. _What's happened to you Maximillion? You were never so cruel before._

* * *

Yami plays Winged Guardian of the Fortress in defense mode.

Pegasus destroys it, then plays Jigen Bakudan.

Yami has two turns left before the game is lost.

Friendship is aparantly the most powerful thing it the universe. It prevents Pegasus from reading Yami's mind.

Yami plays Mystic Box, switching the Dark Magician with Jigen Bakudan.

Pegasus passes, and Yami plays Brain Control, taking over Relinquished.

He then uses the ritual card Yugi played before he was... well... It's not explained very well what happened to him...

Yami sacrafices Jigen Bakudan and the Dark Magician to create the Magician of Black Chaos! (Yay!)

Yami then plays a monster facedown and a card facedown.

Pegasus regains control of Relinquished and fuses it with Thousand Eyes Restrict, and extremely ugly monster.

It paralyzes all the monsters on Yami's side of the field, making them unable to attack or defend.

Pegasus starts to suck up the Magician of Black Chaos, but Yami activates Mulitply, making the Kuriboh he placed facedown multiply. They get sucked up instead, exploding as they hit Thousand Eyes Restrict, blinding him. (How exactly does that work? This is a load of crap! Well written, but COME ON)

Yami destroys Pegasus' monster with his Magician of Black Chaos, winning the duel.

* * *

* * *

**Once again, this doesn't match up. My apologies. This is probably a few minutes after Yugi's soul gets separated from his body.**

Wingweaver's legs shook as the shadows hammered relentlessly against her shield. Crystal turned away from the duel and stood, feeling a power surge down her arms. Her hands glowed and she curled her fingers as if she was holding a pole; pressing her hands together. Crystal pulled her hands apart and a trail of light remained suspended in the air. She stretched her arms as far as they could go, and the beam continued about a foot after her reach. It solidified and dimmed slightly, and Crystal held a spear of light in her hands. Cyrstal's eyes widened as she realized what she'd done, then she twirled it, surprised by the familiarity of the weapon. Aparantly spear fighting or using magic is like riding a bike; you never forget how.

Crystal stabbed at the monsters, making them cringe back. She didn't even need to hit them to drive them off. She ducked and stabbed and twirled, keeping the shadows at bay. The monsters pulled back, milling about for a moment, before disolving into an oily smoke. The vaporized monsters began to mesh together creating several stronger creatures.

She turned around, hoping to heal Yugi before the darkness could attack. Someone had beaten her to it though. "Tea?" she gasped, her jaw dropping.

A transparant Tea smiled at her, then turned back to Yugi. Crystal looked up at the dueling field and was shocked to see that all of Yugi's friends were next to the spirit using Yugi's body, protecting his thoughts from Pegasus' probbing. She smiled at the show of devotion. There was still a chance that Yugi could win the duel.

"Crystal!" Wingweaver cried out in warning. She whirled around in time to raise her spear in defense, before the humongous monster tackled her to the ground. It's dog-like head chewed furiously on the spear, it saliva dripping on her in large, smelly globs. Its red eyes rolled in anger and pain as her spear burned its gums like acid. Crystal summoned the magic in her and forced it into the spear, making it shine even brighter. The creature jumped back and off of her, whining and shaking its large head.

She stood up quickly and turned around, hearing something behind her. Another monster was racing towards where transparant Tea crouched over Yugi's still body. This one had the body of some shaggy animal with a serpent's head attached by at least five feet of neck. Crystal raced forward to intercept it, pointing the business end of her spear at the monstrosity. It spat at her, splashing the arm with venom. She cried out in pain as it burned her skin, and tried to wipe it off with her other arm. "Idiot!" she hissed at herself for her stupidity. Now both her arms were burning. She siphoned off some magic to keep the pain down and sent another burst into her spear, which she started to twirl. She backed up, still spinning her spear and storing magic in it; waiting for the right moment. Just when it became difficult to contain the power inside her weapon, she sent a beam of light the width of her spear at the creature. The monster's screech of pain separated into many different shreeks as the creature separated. She kept the stream of light going, feeling lightheaded. Finally, the monsters' cries faded into relieved sighs as their souls were released and allowed to pass on.

The monsters paused and stared at the spot the creature had disappeared, dead silent. As one they turned toward her with their burning eyes. Crystal swallowed nervously, preparing herself for the onslaught. Every single monster charged her, running straight past Wingweaver and Yugi. She backed up quickly, summoning her depleted magic and pushing it into her spear. There was precious little change. Crystal searched her mind for a solution, and found what felt like a tap in her head that slowly leaked magic into her. She turned it and felt the new magic flow through her. Too much. It swamped her mind and everything became sureal, including the charging monsters (the tap thingy will become more important as the story goes on).

Crystal struggled to turn the tap back, but barely turned it back enough to concentrate. It would have to do, the creatures were mere feet from her. She slammed her spear, blunt end down, into the floor, sending out a shockwave of light. The beasts turned and ran from the attack, keeping ahead of the wave. Wingweaver ran up to her, barely making it in time to catch her when her legs gave out. She helped Crystal walk over to where Yugi lay, sitting her down and knealing next to her. "Crystal," Wingweaver said, shaking her a little. She struggled to focus on her face. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

She frowned, "Stop moving your hand!"

"I'm not."

"Oh. That's probably not the best sign." Her eyes closed and she passed out for a moment before coming to. Crystal blinked and looked around. "Do you hear that?"

"Hear what, Crystal?"

Her eyes widened as she recognized the sound. "Mamma and Daddi (the i is accented, sounds like an E. Don't ask me why, but I like it when it's pronounced like that)! You don't here them?"

Wingweaver shook her head. "What are they saying?"

"I can't understand it."

Her friend frowned, "Did you turn some sort of magic dispenser in your soul room?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?" she asked.

"You have to turn it back to where it was Crystal, or you'll die!"

Crystal blinked. "Oh, my bad."

She struggled to turn it back, gritting her teeth. It had been much easier to increase the magic than to shut some of it off. When Crystal finally turned the valve back to where it was, she had to lay down. It wasn't a physical exhaustion, but it still made her feel weak. Tea looked up from tending Yugi and gently touched her arm, sending a bit of strength into her. Crystal smiled gratefully at her, and tried to stand, but she only succeded in sitting up.

Wingweaver got up and looked at the monsters returning, her jaw set with determination. She once again set up a shield, not as bright as the first, but still capable of fending of the darkness.

Crystal looked up at the duel arena where the two duelist still fought, oblivious to what was happening just a few yards away. Her jaw dropped as she saw that the field was covered with Kuribohs, all of them being sucked into some sort of monstrosity Pegasus was controling. As soon as they touched Pegasus' monster, they exploded. As the dust settled, she saw that the creature had been blinded.

That was when the monsters reached Wingweaver's shield. Her friend gasped when the shadows began beating it, but she stood her ground. Crystal turned back to the duel just in time to see the Magician of Black Chaos destroy Pegasus' monster, ending the duel.

She heard a soft sound next to her and looked over at Yugi. He was sitting up, staring at the wall of light around him and the monsters on the other side. "Yugi! Your awake!" she grinned.

He didn't seem capable of speech at the moment and stared at her. He finally found his voice. "I... I need to go."

Crystal nodded, still smiling. "Your friends are waiting for you."

He faded and turned into a little ball of light that streamed through the shield, around the monsters, and up the duel arena. Yugi had won. He'd get his grandfather soul back. She watched his soul sink back into Yugi's body, before struggling to her feet. She took Wingweaver's hand and they melded their power together and shrank their shield. Now only three monsters could ram it, prolonging how long they could stand the attacks. They wouldn't last very long though; their magic was exhausted.

Eventually Crystal had to drain her spear back into herself to keep the shield up. She looked at Wingweaver. "We have to take it down and fight."

"We're not strong enogh!"

"I'd rather go down fighting than hiding," Crystal said, her eyes bright.

Wingweaver bit her lip, then sighed. "On three," she said. "One."

"Three!"

Crystal charged through the shield and swung her fist at the nearest monster. Her vision went blurry and when it cleared she saw that she was sitting in a cell. Her jaw dropped even more when she saw Johnny curled up next to her. "Johnny! What are you doing here?"

"Trying to rescue you without being punched in the face!"

He took his hand away, and Crystal saw she'd given him a bloody nose. "Whoops!" she smiled at him weakly. "Thanks for coming for me." She leaned forward and kissed his cheek.

Johnny shrugged, looking embarassed. "Your my responsablility. It's my duty to protect you, not follow Pegasus' orders."

Crystal stood, wondering why she had returned to her body. "Do you know what happened?"

He nodded, standing too. "The finalist, Yugi Moto, asked Pegasus to release all the souls he had taken if he beat him, which he did."

She smiled. Yugi had a purity of heart that you didn't find very often. Then she realized something. "If he freed all the souls, then Seto and Mokuba should be back too!"

"Kaiba's in the cell next to yours."

Crystal ran out of her cell and peered into the gloom of the one next door. "Seto? Are you there?"

"Yeah," he groaned. "Where's Mokuba?"

Her smile faded. Something very bad was happening in the castle. Another shadow game was beginning, one that involved Pegasus and a very dark spirit. She looked at Johnny. "Do you know where Mokuba is?"

"Yes," he said, looking at her curiously, "Is something wrong, Crystal?"

"Maybe. Help Seto find his brother, I need to go." Crysal hurried through the corridors, following the foreboding she felt in her gut. Pegasus was in deep trouble, and no matter how much he had hurt her, she had to help him.

He was the only family she knew.

* * *

Awesome! 5,XXX words! I'm sorry but I must make a smiley :))))

Wow! This took me much longer to write than I thought it would. Sorry for the wait everyone! Either after the next chapter or the chapter after that I'm going to go off in a different direction. Tangent ftw! Anyways plz review, cause I'm proud of my action in this :)


	13. Chapter 13

Pegasus stood alone in his sanctuary, looking at the table in front of him. Four cards were lined up there, each one containing a soul. He picked up the one that contained Crystal and touched her sad face. "I'm so sorry, sweetheart. I thought I was doing the right thing," Pegasus closed his eye, "I miss her so badly Crystal. I kept telling myself I was doing it for you, giving you a mother again, but now I know the truth. The only reason I did this was for my own selfish reasons." He opened his eye and looked at the card in his hand. The faint picture of Wingweaver was barely visible behind her. "I love you so much Crissy," Pegasus whispered, wiping the moisture from his eye. "Now you have to relive your past all over again. Even with Wingweaver guiding you, it will be a rough journey. All my fault." He looked at her frozen face, then at the others on the table. "I'm a terrible father Crystal, you know that now. Maybe it's time I start trying to be the father you deserve."

He activated his Eye and freed the souls of Kaiba, Mokuba, and Soloman Moto. Pegasus hesitated a moment, staring at his daughter's soul. "I'm going to miss you, Crissy. You're the only thing that's helped me get out of bed these last few years." He sighed, watching the Millenium Eye's light illuminate the room. "Bye, sweetheart. I hope you can forgive me someday."

Pegasus set down the blank card and looked up at Cecilia's portrait. He hadn't done her beauty justice. "I failed you too, Cecilia. I did all of this for you, in the hopes that I could restore you, body and soul."

"How sweet."

Pegasus whirled around. "Who's there?"

The person in the shadows laughed, and he recognized the voice. "Bakura? I remember now, you're the one who possesses the Millenium Ring!"

"Yes, and I intend to own all the Millenium Items. Care to wager your Eye on a Shadow Game? I'll give you a second chance at a Millenium Item," he chuckled, "What you couldn't win from Yugi, perhaps you can win from me." Bakura walked over to the table and started to shuffle Pegasus' deck. "If you win, your deepest desires may not be out of your grasp after all."

Pegasus' eyes widened. Another chance to bring back Cecilia? It was too good to be true! Now that he'd lost Crystal, he needed the comfort of her gentle soul more than ever.

He hid his emotions and watched as Bakura placed several cards face down. "Your item allows you to see into people's minds, Pegasus; mine allows me to see into people's souls. Lets take a look at your deck and see your true nature, shall we?" He flipped one of the cards over. "The Happy Lover card. It shows that you've experienced the joys of love," a cruel smile spread across his face. "However this card is upside-down, which means your romance ended in tragedy."

Pegasus gritted his teeth in anger. "What a pity," Bakura grinned, flipping over the next card.

"This card should show me more about your present than your past. Ahhh.. The Mask of Darkness. So your recent actions were just a ploy to cover your real objectives, intentions that came from your heart." Bakura glanced at him, "Who would have thought you even had a heart? Let alone one so easily broken."

"Quiet!" Pegasus snapped at him, "Let's just play the game."

Bakura chuckled, "As you wish, but first there is one more card to be revealed. Don't you want to see your future?" He flipped the card over, "Doma, the Angel of Silence. That's fitting, since I will now silence you forever!"

Pegasus' eye widened in surprise at Bakura's vicious glee. "Prepare yourself mortal for a Shadow Game the likes of which you've never played." Their items glowed and shot out a ray of energy, meeting in the middle and warping the space around it. "This Shadow Game will be played on the landscape of our mind." Bakura chuckled at the weakness of Pegasus' retaliation. "Really Pegasus, is that all you can muster? You've been fatigued by your Shadow Duel with Yugi. Your mind is weary while mine is fresh."

Pegasus gritted his teeth and tried to hold of Bakura. He'd been set up, and he realized there was no way he could win. He slammed into the wall as Bakura overpowered him. "You are defeated," Bakura grinned, "A mere amature to one who has played for centuries!"

"You've been alive for centuries?" He gasped, "What kind of creature are you?"

Bakura smiled down at him and walked towards him. "I am the one who will possess all the Millenium Items, and I shall use their combined power to take over the entire world! You've lost the game, and that entitles me to take your item the way you intended to take Yugi's."

"No!" Pegasus begged as Bakura stretched out his hand toward him. The pain was overwhelming as Bakura's fingers yanked his Eye from its socket. "NO!"

* * *

Crystal was standing on her bedroom balcony's railing when she heard Pegasus scream. She looked towards where it had come from and spread her wings. Her wings had always been there, they'd just been invisible and untouchable thanks to the magic that she'd placed on them when she'd first returned to the real world. Apparantly she'd cause a panic or something if people saw them. She leapt of the railing and tilted her wings, flying higher so no one would see her. Crystal made a beeline for the tower she'd heard Pegasus' cry from. Most of her flight was controlled by her wings, but there was some magic involved. Then again, a girl with six wings flying around was pretty magical.

She fluttered her wings and landed on the ledge outside the window to the tower Pegasus refered to as his sanctuary. Crystal slipped through the window and gasped. "Maximillion!" she cried out, rushing over to where he lay on the floor. She shook his shoulder, and he stirred slightly. His hair fell away from his face, and she clasped her hands to her mouth to stop her cry of shock. His Millenium Eye was missing, leaving a ugly crater where it had once been.

"Crystal," Pegasus whispered, looking up at her. "Crissy, I'm so sorry."

"Shh..." she told him, gently stroking his hair. "Who did this?"

Maximillion shook his head. "Don't go after him," he told her, before passing out.

Her eyes narrowed and she ran to the stairs. Looking down them, she saw a shadow disappear around the corner, and the faint sound of cruel laughter drifted up the stairwell. Crystal cloaked her wings again, gritted her teeth in anger, and ran after the man who'd stolen Maximillion's Eye.

She rounded the corner and ran right into Croquet. He steadied her and asked her if Pegasus was alright. "We heard him cry out."

"He's unconsciuous," Crystal said bluntly, "and I was going after his assailant. Did you see him?"

"No," he said, sounding surprised, "Nobody came down the stairs."

"But I heard him! He couldn't have vanished into thin air!"

Croquet frowned, "I don't know what to tell you Miss Crystal. Excuse me, I need to see to Master Pegasus' safety."

"You're a bit late for that," she muttered to herself, standing to the side so Croquet and a few other bodyguards could get by. Crystal looked back down the stairs frowning, before following them. Where had the man that attacked Maximillion went?

* * *

Crystal watched in silence as one of the bodyguards put Pegasus' arms around his neck and picked him up, like he was giving Maximillion a piggy-back ride. Crystal followed everyone back down the stairs, her hands clasped in front of her. Walking with all these men in black, she felt like she was part of a funeral procession.

_The sand whipped around the folds of her dress, stirred by the wind running across the desert. She was dressed in black, as was everyone around her, with a see-through veil over her nose and mouth. Not a word was spoken as the procession walked towards where her father's body would be laid to rest. Her hands were clasped in front of her, and she was struggling to hold back tears. If she'd been just a little faster, she could have healed the assassin's wound her father had recieved before his soul slipped away._ Don't blame yourself for this, Crystal. The only one to blame is the one who commited this heinous act. _Wingweaver told her, her gentle mind sending soothing emotions to her. Wingweaver's understanding finally pushed her over the edge and she let her tears trickle down her face, her shoulders shaking silently. _

_A gentle hand took hers, and she heard her brother's soft voice, "It will be alright Crystal," he comforted. Her brother was going through the same grief she was. She was older; she should be comforting him, not the other was around! Crystal just couldn't muster the strength to be positive. "No pain lasts forever."_

_She couldn't meet his eyes, but she squeezed his hand to acknowledge what he said. Crystal looked towards the front of the procession where her father's sarcophagus was being born by several servants. Pain may not last forever, but for now all she wanted to do was wallow in her grief._

Crystal's eyes widened and she paused to lean against the wall, clutching her chest. Her heart ached so badly, she wanted to tear it out! The pain lasted only a few seconds, but that short amount of time had made her eyes bright with tears. Crystal held her hand out in front of her, the ghost of her brother's touch still lingering. A tear escaped her eye and slid down her cheek as his memory faded again. When would she remember his face? She wiped her eyes and started back down the stairs again, her hands still pressed over her heart, as if to protect it from another blow. Her father had been assassinated, and she'd been too late to heal him.

She locked the pain of her failure away and asked Wingweaver a question that had been bugging her. _What is that tap thing in my soul room, Wingweaver?_

_That is your connection to the supreme being of light, the Creator of Light herself. Your ability to perform magic comes not from me, but from the Creator. There is a great darkess in you that you are holding at bay, keeping it from causing chaos and killing countless innocents. _Wingweaver's voice was prideful. _That tap is a gift from the Creator for containing the evil within you, and to help you keep it within you._

_Why would I have died from turning it? _she asked.

_The Creator of Light is the one who guards the afterlife, and letting too much of her power into you will separate your soul from its body in its effort to get closer to the light and love there. _Wingweaver explained. _That is also why you could faintly hear your parents voices._

_I didn't hear my brother._

_That doesn't mean that he hasn't passed away, Crystal. _Wingweaver told her.

Crystal shook her head, then noticed she'd almost reached the end of the stairs. _He is alive, and I will find him._

Wingweaver sighed softly, but didn't argue.

Crystal stepped out into the sunshine, blinking. She should have swiped one of the guards sunglasses when she was with them.

She was surprised to notice that Yugi and the gang were standing outside. "Crystal!" Yugi exclaimed, smiling, "Your soul was released?"

"Yep! So was Seto's."

"Do you know if Pegasus released my grandpa and Mokuba?" he asked.

Crystal shook her head, "I'm not sure, you might find some clues in his sanctuary though. I can't help you look right now."

"Yeah we saw. What happened to him anyway?" Joey asked.

"He looked pretty bad," Tea added.

She closed her eyes, "Someone has stolen his Millenium Eye."

They all gasped, "No way!" Joey exclaimed.

Crystal nodded. "I tried to follow the person who did it, but I lost him. It's like he vanished into thin air!" she groaned, "This has not been a good day. First I find out my dad is crazy, then I lose my soul, then my dad is knocked out by a man who is still running around my home." Not to mention her recent memory. She rubbed her temples. "I need a nap."

"You okay?" Tristan asked.

"Yeah," Crystal reassured them, "I really should get going." She took a step forward, but paused and looked at Yugi. "Thanks for fighting for me, Yugi. You should be careful, though. Whoever stole Maximillion's Eye may also come for your Puzzle."

He nodded, "I will,"

Crystal smiled and place a hand on his forehead, "Be safe," she said in her native tongue, placing a blessing on him and hoping it would help. "May no evil harm you,"

His eyes widened in surprise at the strange language. Before Yugi could ask her what she said, Crystal turned and walked towards the castle.

As he watched her go, Yugi saw the setting change. She was walking across the desert, wearing a ivory dress with a gold circlet around her head. He blinked and it faded. She was just Crystal again, but he wondered what she had been before Pegasus erased her memories.

Crystal's jaw was set in determination. Now she would get the answers to her questions. It didn't matter if she had to slap him awake. Crystal was going to get the answers she had been searching for since Pegasus had adopted her.

* * *

Peas and carrots review :) Oh yeah, I have a question. How would you spell Joey's nickname for Yugi. Yuge, Yuig, ? I'm confuzzled, plz help me!


	14. Chapter 14

Crystal stood outside Maximillion's bedroom door, hesitating. How could she face the man she had once trusted completely, the man who had saved her from endless torment. He'd comforted her when she couldn't sleep, held her hair back when she had the flu. He even homeschooled her. With his guidance she'd skipped a few grades and graduated highschool a few months back. Maximillion had been her foundation; he'd been one of the few constants in a life she kept forgetting.

A life he'd been making her forget.

She took a deep breath. Pegasus didn't care about how close they had been, so she shouldn't either. Crystal opened the door and stepped in. She was relieved to see that someone had covered his empty eye socket with bandages. Pegasus opened his eye when she came in and he smiled at her weakly. "I didn't think you'd come," he said, his voice soft. Crystal walked towards him and stopped at the end of his bed. He raised his hand, and she noticed it tremble slightly. "Come closer, Crystal."

"I'm fine right here, thanks," she told him stiffly.

Pegasus closed his eye and sighed, "I deserved that." He was quiet for a few seconds, before speaking. "So, you want to know about your family?"

"How'd you guess?"

He laughed softly, "Sweetheart, I don't need a magic eye to know your devotion to you brother is unbreakable. You want to know everything about him. Everything I made you forget."

Crystal nodded, her heart beating faster.

"I'm afraid I cannot help you."

"What?" she yelled at him, her temper flaring. "You think you can waltz into my life, make me lose _everything _important, EVERYTHING I loved, and then say 'My bad. Oh, and I can't help you remember it either'! Who the hell do you think you are?"

Pegasus watched her sadly. "Crystal, I just can't remember. The Millenium Eye was a part of me. It contained much of my strength, leaving me weak and bed-ridden. It also contained the memories I masked, becasuse I didn't want to think of them. Your past is as much a mystery to you as it is to me."

Crystal closed her eyes, fighting back her despair. She had nothing. Not even a face to go on.

"Crissy," Pegasus said, trying to get her attention, "I may have something that could spark your memory. Look in the drawer in my bedside table," he told her.

She walked over, and when she opened the drawer she found a bundle of cloth. Crystal picked it up and sat in the rocking chair a few feet away. "What is it?" she asked.

"It's what you were wearing when you were in the Shadow Realm."

Crystal sifted through the clothing and froze. A gold circlet rested in the center of the bundle. She picked it up and examined it. It was simple, yet beautiful. It was not a complete circle; at the front the gold curves end's tilted up and curled, almost making circles on both sides (I'll draw this and put it on the cp if I can. I know my description sucks). A gold thread was tied to both sides just before the curve turned up, and suspended from it was a teardrop shaped piece of amber. The Egyptian eye, the one on every Millenium Item, was carved on it, but the carving seemed to be inside the amber. She set the bundle of clothing down and walked over to Pegasus' dresser, watching in the mirror as she placed it on her head. The drop of amber rested right in the center of her forehead.

Her eyes widened. She did remember something. The Egyptian eye (I'm just gonna call it that, since it isn't exactly the Eye of Horus) shone on her forehead, and the light passed through the droplet of amber, bathing the room in a warm, golden color.

_Crystal was sitting in her bedroom, looking into the mirror. Her calm, eight-year-old face stared back at her. She was holding her mother's circlet in her hands, the circlet she wore in honor of her mother's spirit. Mama had died a few months ago giving birth to her brother, the future Egyptian Pharoah. Crystal had gladly given up the position. The fate of Egypt should not rest on the shoulders of a deathly ill girl. Her mother would be placed in the same cave her father would be, waiting to enter the beyond with him._

_She heard the door open and turned to see who it was. "Hello father," Crystal greeted bowing her head slightly._

_"You miss her a lot, don't you?" he asked her. His grave eyes were filled with pain, reliving the loss of his wife all over again._

_"How did you know?"_

_He smiled slightly, "You're always formal when you feel sad."_

_Crystal turned away. "I still can't believe it. Mama was perfectly fine, and then..." She bit her lip, her eyes watering. Crystal forced the memory of the blood from her mind and stared down at her lap._

_Daddi's hand touched her shoulder. "I have a feeling that's not the only thing you're upset about."_

_She looked at the crutches she needed to walk, then back at her lap where the black dress she wore hid her wasted legs. "I don't think I'll be able to make it all the way to the cave."_

_"I'll carry you if that's what it takes to get you there," he said, kneeling next to her. He picked up the circlet she held and set it on her head. "You look just like her, you know."_

_"Really?" she asked, a smile spreading across her face. When he nodded, Crystal threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. That was the highest praise anyone could ever give her._

_The door opened again and Wingweaver entered, holding her dear baby brother. She walked over to them and bowed. "My Pharaoh," Wingweaver greeted, then smiled at Crystal. "My princess," she said, reaching out to ruffle her hair._

_Crystal giggled and reached out for the baby cradled in Wingweaver's arm. She smiled at how easily he fit in her arms, and shifted him a little so he didn't press on the painful, ugly mark on her left arm. "How is my little prince this morning?" she asked him, brushing a stray lock of hair from his eyes. His hair was surprisingly long for someone so young. His large, purple eyes blinked up at her and she noticed his cheeks were flushed. "Have you been crying, my sweet? Of course you have," She said, answering her own question, "You know that today is a sad day." Crystal stroked his cheeks and kissed his forehead. She rested her head against his, feeling her shoulder's relax and the ache in her legs lessen. Her little brother was the most important thing in her life, and Crystal would protect him until the day she died. _

_No matter how short a time that would be._

Crystal blinked and was staring in Pegasus' mirror again. She clutched her little brother to her, but realized he was no longer there. The loss hit her like a physical blow, and she wrapped her arms around herself, trying to ease the ache in her heart. "Crystal?" Maximillion asked, sounding worried, "Crystal, are you alright?"

"Yeah," she said after a few seconds. She removed the circlet and stared at it. This once belonged to her mother; Mamma had worn it. Not only that, she, Crystal, was the daughter of a Pharoah! A princess!

Crystal couldn't stop herself from rubbing her left arm where the black bruise once was. Her skin was unblemished, and she didn't understand how that could be. She'd been dying, slowly but surely. Back then, she could barely walk without the aid of crutches, and now she was perfectly healthy.

Her hand moved farther up her arm to where her baby brother's head had rested such a long time ago. She'd seen him! She'd held him in her arms!

_And now he's gone again._

_Shh... _Wingweaver soothed her_. Now is not the best time to examine what we've learned. We should be somewhere we won't be disturbed before looking at them closer._

To emphasize her point, Pegasus questioned her again. "Did you learn anything helpful, Crissy?"

"Yes," she told him, standing up. Her legs felt funny for a moment; the memory making her think they should be weaker. Crystal waited a until the feeling faded before walking back over to the rocking chair to pick up the clothes she had worn in the Shadow Realm. She wrapped them around the circlet and walked towards the door, lost in her thoughts.

"Crystal," Pegasus' voice caught her attention. She turned around and saw Maximillion was trying to sit up, but succeeded only in propping himself up on his elbows. "Will you ever be able to forgive me for what I've done?"

"Maybe someday," she said truthfully, "Not today, not tomorrow, but someday I might."

He nodded sinking back down onto his bed. "Thank you," he whispered. She could tell by the rise and fall of his chest that he was asleep a few seconds later.

_His soul no longer contains the darkness it once did,_ Wingweaver noted, _The Millenium Eye may have been influencing him to commit the acts he did._

_What do you mean? Crystal_ asked, surprised.

_The residue of a Millenium Item's previous owner is often left on the item, influencing the next to use it_, Wingweaver explained, _The one who wore the Millenium Eye before Pegasus must have had a dark heart, and that left a mark upon the item, a mark that darkened Pegasus' soul. Still in grief from the loss of his wife, he would have been very susceptible to this evil._

Crystal turned away from Maximillion's sleeping body. Evil residue or not, there was no excuse for what he had done. She slipped out the door and shut it quietly.

"Crystal!" said someone right behind her.

She jumped and whirled around. "I've been looking all over for you!" Johnny told her. He looked at the door she'd just exited, then back at her. "I heard that someone stole Pegasus' Eye. Is he alright?"

"Yeah, just tired," Crystal said, "Did you already find Mokuba?"

Johnny shook his head, "Kaiba took off as soon as I showed him out of the dungeon. He said something about not trusting one of Pegasus' suits and how he could find his brother himself."

"Typical," she sighed. "They'll be fine. The guards are like a duelist without a spell cards when Pegasus isn't ordering them around. They won't give anyone trouble."

"What's that you're holding?" he asked.

"I'll tell you later. Right now I need to pack for a trip."

"Where are we going?" Johnny questioned.

Crystal smiled, "Egypt."

"It's time then?"

"Yep," she said, "It's time to go home. I have a little brother to find."

* * *

Author's note: Ok, so the chapter after the next chapter is when I go on a tangent. I really suck at guestamating. Then again, I wasn't planning on writing so much. Yes I know it's not much compared to some people, but I like shorter chapters. Means I update more frequently and you, the reader, can stop at good stopping places and eat or something. I am always interupted in the middle of a chapter and it annoys the hell out of me! While I was ranting, I just go over 2,000 words so this is actually one of my longer chapters, since it doesn't have a duel play-by-play in it. Next chapter Crystal meets up with everyone, then they don't see each other for a few chapters (coming from me, that probably means six or something). :'( Why am I mean to myself? Anyway, plz review!


	15. Chapter 15

**I was kinda bored in the beginning of this chapter so I gave Crystal and Johnny a bonding moment... over a sex talk... I know, I surprise myself sometimes.**

**And just so you know, this is my longest chapter so far (it doesn't even have a card game!), so I suggest getting yourself settled. The stopping places in this chapter are almost non-existant (like Kristan Stewart's acting talents (Burn!)). Anyways enjoy!**

* * *

Crystal clicked her bag shut and slung it onto her shoulder. It contained everything she was going to need on her trip. Toiletries, seven changes of clothes (she could just use the dry cleaners), a wad of cash she'd saved for emergencies tucked into a hole in the lining, her laptop, her cell phone, and the clothes she'd worn in the Shadow Realm. Anything else she needed she could buy once she arrived in Egypt.

She walked towards the door, but paused by her dresser. The heart shaped necklace she owned dangled there on its hook. It was once gold, but both sides were worn silver, probably from her rubbing it. The heart was a little bigger than a quarter and hung from a gold chain. Crystal couldn't remember where she'd got it, but it was too worn to be a recent gift. Her eyes widened. It must have been from before she was trapped in the Shadow Realm! She lifted it from it's place and put it on, having a little difficulty with the clasp. The worn, gold heart rested about two inches below her collarbone. Her fingers rubbed it, and she was surprised at the comfort the action gave her. She let the heart go and looked in the mirror, hoping for a memory.

When none came, Crystal walked out of her room and crossed the hall to Johnny's room. She pounded on his door. "Are you decent?"

"Yeah," he said. Crystal opened the door and smirked at how much stuff he was bringing. She found the fact that he brought more crap on these trips than she did endlessly amusing. "Why would I be indecent?"

"I don't know, but I really don't want to take that chance. Walking in on you naked is the last thing I want to do," she said, shuddering.

"Same here," he told her, picking up a small pistol. It looked even smaller in his huge hand.

"Doesn't look like that has much fire power," Crystal said, feeling her guilt for bringing it lower, "It's probably deadly only in certain circumstances."

"I am the certain circumstance that makes it deadly," he said, winking at her.

She looked up him. "That was kind of creepy, Johnny."

He chuckled and set it down, "You think that's creepy, just wait until I talk to you about the birds and the bees."

"You wouldn't!" she gasped.

"You see Crystal, when a man and a woman love each other very-," he began, but she punched him in the gut, knocking the wind out of him.

"You... really... can't... take a... joke," Johnny gasped.

"Maximillion already covered that subject when he was teaching me health class, and that was enough to scar me for life." she set her bag on the floor, forcing herself not to cringe at the thought. Why hadn't Pegasus erased that memory?

"I can see how that would give you nightmares." Johnny laughed. Then to her utter horror, he mimicked Pegasus' voice. "You see Crystal, when- alright, alright, I'll stop!" he cried out when she tackled him and pinned him down. Crystal let go of the arm she'd been yanking on and stood up, pleased. "I think I taught you too well," Johnny said, rubbing his shoulder.

She chuckled and looked over at his bed where a wide range of firearms were laid. "Ooooo..." she tutted him, "This one looks illegal," Crystal said, picking up one of the larger ones.

"Not in Egypt. I did my research."

"Hmm..." She put it down and reached for another, bigger one. "This one can't be legal anywhere!"

"It's not," Johnny told her.

Crystal couldn't stop a wicked grin from spreading across her face. Sure, she hated guns, but come on! This thing was awesome! She bet the boom could be heard ten miles away and that the recoil would knock her right over. "I am _so_ shooting this when we get to Egypt!"

She felt him walk up behind her; it would be difficult not to notice him. "Sperm," he whispered.

Crystal swung her arm out to hit him, but he was already on the other side of the room, laughing hysterically. "You are such a pig!" she scowled, putting the gun down and grabbing one of his pillows. As annoying as he was, she didn't want to break his face.

She cornered him and swung the pillow at his head, hoping to knock some sense into his sick mind. "Swing and a miss!" he laughed, ducking. "Strike two!" he crowed when he backed up to avoid the pillow.

On the third swing Crystal knocked him over, having 'accidentally' hit him with her fist. She hovered over him anxiously; it looked like he was unconscious. Crystal nudged him with her foot. "Johnny? Are you okay?"

His arm shot out and knocked the legs from underneath her, making her fall, face first, into the pillow. Before she could get away, Johnny reached over and started tickling her. "No!" she giggled, "That's not fair! You're not ticklish!"

"Yes I am," he said, grinning at her happy misery.

"I'm not tickling your feet!" she laughed, still unable to wriggle away from him. "Stop! It hurts!"

Johnny laughed, "Doesn't sound like it hurts,"

"Please?"

"Well, since you asked nicely."

Crystal sat up, trying to catch her breath, which was difficult since a few giggles still bubbled up. Johnny just laughed at her, while she struggled to straighten out the mess her hair had become.

When he started to mimic Pegasus again, she froze and slowly turned toward him, a crazed light in her eyes, "And that's how babies are made."

_Smack!_

"Ow!"

* * *

Crystal and Johnny walked through the castle, Johnny carrying less-than-half of what he was bringing with him. As he gave her the rundown on what happened while she was in the Shadow Realm, Crystal struggled to straighten out her messy hair. She finally gave up and put her hair up in a pony tail. "So Seto fought for my soul, too?"

"Yeah," he said, glancing at her, "You seem pretty interested in that fact."

"I'm just shocked, that's all," Crystal said, shrugging, "Do you think you could bring Bessie around?" she asked, changing the subject.

"You're going to let me fly your baby?" he asked in surprise.

She pulled the key from her pocket and held it out to him. "If you hurt her, you're dead."

Johnny grinned and took the keys. "Woohoo!" he shouted, running off.

"Set her down in the courtyard," she yelled after him.

He waved his hand in acknowledgement, and Crystal rolled her eyes. He was like a little kid when they weren't in life or death situations.

She glanced over at the transparent form of Wingweaver, and noticed she looked troubled. _Is something bothering you Wingweaver?_

Her friend looked at her_. I was just thinking of your recent memory. It has created more questions than answers. For example, I had my own, separate body at the time. However, by the time of your father's death, we were one. What could have happened to bind us to one body?_

_That's a good point. I wasn't sick anymore after Daddi's death either, _she said, biting her lip. How could things she'd forgotten until recently hurt so much? _Maybe a cure was found._

_I doubt that, Crystal, _Wingweaver said, her face darkening, _There was a darkness about that mark on your arm, and that evil spidered throughout your body. Whatever ailed you was attacking your soul, as well as your body and mind. That sort of darkness could not be cured by simple medicine. Powerful magic would be needed to eradicate it, but it was rooted so deeply in you. Killing it would have killed you as well._

_So what could have happened? _she asked.

_That's what troubles me._

Crystal pushed the speculations from her mind. There would be plenty of time to meditate on what these memories meant on the way to Egypt.

She walked out the door and was pleasantly surprised to see that Yugi, his friends, and Mokuba were all assembled in the courtyard. Her smile faded when she realized Seto wasn't there. Crystal shook her head. If Seto wasn't so stubborn, he'd be reunited with his brother by now!

"Seto!" Mokuba called. "Big brother! It's me Mokuba! Where are you?"

"This castle is enormous," Yugi said, "He could be almost any-"

He was interrupted by the creaking of the doors leading out of the castle. Seto stood there, a rare smile on his face. Mokuba laughed and ran toward him, hugging him tightly.

Crystal couldn't stop herself from grinning at the Kodak moment. "Aww..."

Yugi noticed her standing behind them and smiled. "Hey, Crystal!" he greeted, turning back to watch Seto and Mokuba. "Looks like everything's been made right."

"I'm glad," Crystal said, walking closer, "I can't help but feel guilty for not seeing what Maximillion was becoming."

"You wouldn't have been able to stop him even if you knew," Tristan objected.

"Still..." she trailed off, watching the Kaiba brothers reunion. Crystal was happy for them, but watching them made her heart ache for her brother. She reached up and rubbed the heart she wore, wishing for the family she'd lost.

"Crystal, we read Pegasus' diary," Joey said.

"Really?" she looked back at them, "What did you find?"

"Pegasus started this tournament so he could get the Millenium Items and take over Kaiba Corp. He was planning on using them to bring back his wife, Cecilia," Yugi explained.

Crystal nodded. "I remember now."

"It also talked about how he found you in the Shadow Realm."

Her shoulder's stiffened. "That's true, too"

"How'd it happen?" Tea asked.

Crystal bit her lip. "I don't remember much, but I do remember that many years ago, a great darkness swept across the land. There was a terrible fight, and in the fray, I lost consciousness. When the battle was over, I woke up and my brother was gone. No one could tell me where he was, so I started looking for him. I looked everywhere. In every valley, on the top of every mountain, and everywhere in between. Eventually, my search brought me to the Shadow Realm. I scoured it and found no trace of my brother, but when I tried to leave, I couldn't."

"How long were you trapped there?" Yugi asked.

"I'm not sure, but let's just say I'm _a lot _older than 17."

Tea frowned, "Sorry for bringing it up, it must be hard for you."

"It is," she said, "But it's getting easier. If I didn't get stuck in the Shadow Realm and died all those years ago, I would never have eaten candy bars!"

Yugi smiled, "Anything for chocolate."

"Damn straight!"

They all laughed, and Crystal relaxed. She didn't like talking about her emotions, and she was self-conscious of the mysteries riddled throughout her past.

Crystal turned back to the two brothers, watching their reunion come to a close.

"So what do you say little brother?" Seto asked, his eyes warm, "Ready for me to take you back home where we both belong?"

"You bet," Mokuba grinned.

Seto stood up and regarded the group of people watching one of his few emotional displays. "Yugi, I want to thank you for saving Mokuba's soul. He means everything to me."

"How could I do anything else?" he replied.

"Do to the circumstances, our last duel was inconclusive. We will meet on the dueling field again, and one of us will walk away with pride."

Yugi nodded.

"Well, then," Crystal said, breaking the tension, "If your done being rivals, I have some thanks of my own to give." She turned to Yugi. "Thanks for saving my soul. It's not often I look like a damsel in distress. In fact I'm usually the one getting other people out of tricky situations, mainly my bodyguard," she snickered, remembering the situation Johnny got himself into in Rio de Janeiro. Crystal brushed a stray strand of hair from her face, and her smile became gentler. "You remind me of my brother, and that's the best complement I could ever give."

"Your welcome," he said, looking a little shocked at her heartfelt thanks.

Crystal turned to Seto and started walking towards him, "Why do you stand so far away from people?"

He shrugged, looking a little surprised that he was included in her speech. She stopped in front of him and crossed her arms. "A little birdy told me you fought for my soul, too."

"And failed."

Crystal waved her hand dismissively. "It's the thought that counts. Besides," she grinned, "your not the type of person who'd do something caring for anyone, but Mokuba."

"What kind of person am I then?"

"You know," Crystal shrugged, "Evil business man. Emotionally void. A bit of an asshole."

"Thanks," Seto said, dryly.

She smiled. "My filter goes out the window when I'm tired."

The thundering roar of a helicopter passed over head, making everyone look up. Crystal's smile broadened as she watched her beautiful, white, labour of love prepare for a landing. "That's my baby!" she gloated.

Johnny landed the aircraft and jumped out the door, looking giddy. "God, I love flying!"

Crystal laughed and gave him a high five. "I'd give that landing a ten out of ten! Your getting better."

"Good thing, too. Remember the first time I flew a plane?"

"Ugh! Don't remind me!" she shuddered, "You threw up and crash landed in the Gobi Desert!"

He grinned, "That was awesome! At least you were able to fix it."

"Never did get that stain out though," she grumbled. Her face brightened, though, at the chance to show of her baby. "Everyone, this is Bessie."

"What is it?" Seto asked.

Crystal grinned, ready to roll of every single measurement on her little beauty. Johnny saved everyone from her lecture by clamping his enormous hand over her mouth. "It's heliplane. Basically, it's a plane with the maneuverability to do tricks, the engine to travel long distances, and helicopter blades so you don't need an airstrip to land it. There are several in existance, buy Crystal came up with the design for this one in her engineering class and built it along with the help of some other plane builders. It's more manuverable than the original."

"Can I speak now?" she asked, her annoyed voice muffled.

"Be my guest," Johnny said, removing his hand. She could hear the laughter in his voice.

Crystal cleared her throat. "The people helping me did most of the work. I just made sure they didn't mess it up."

It was so easy to tell when Johnny was doing something behind her back. She could almost hear him mouthing "She did all the work!"

"Where are you going?" Tea asked.

"Egypt, to find my brother."

Yugi's eyes widened in surprise, "You're Egyptian?"

She nodded, "Born and raised. I've only lived on this island for three years, after all."

"Why do you call it Bessie?" Joey asked, "Isn't that a cow's name?"

Once again, she felt Johnny moving behind her back. He was probably trying to warn Joey about the mine he'd just stepped on. "As you can see Joey Wheeler," Crystal said, her eyes narrowed, "Bessie is not a _cow_."

There was a long, threatening silence, before Seto broke it. "We need to go," he said abruptly, turning away.

"Wait a minute!" Crystal called, running after him. He paused and looked at her, his blue eyes wary. She grinned up at him. "Thanks for trying to save my soul," she said. Then she stepped forward and hugged him tightly. There was a moment of dead silence before Joey, Tristan, and Johnny tried unsuccessfully to muffle their snickers.

Crystal frowned when Seto didn't return the gesture. "It's called a hug, tough guy, and I'm not letting go until you return it."

"She won't," Johnny told him, amusement in his voice, "We could be here all day and she still won't let go."

Seto sighed in defeat and hesitantly wrapped him arms around her. Crystal grinned, "I am _so _putting this as my Facebook status!"

Crystal thought she felt him laugh, but there was no sound so she dismissed it. Besides, when did Seto ever laugh at her jokes?

She pulled away and smiled down at Mokuba. "Try not to get kidnapped again, buddy," Crystal said, ruffling his hair.

He rolled his eyes. "I won't."

Crystal rummaged through her pockets, pulled out a piece of paper, and handed it to Seto. "You can contact me at this number, just in case he does get himself kidnapped again." She winked at Mokuba, and he stuck his tongue out at her. Crystal giggled and looked back at Seto, "Fly safe!"

"You too," he replied, before turning to Mokuba, "Come on little brother. The 'copter is waiting."

"Yeah! We're going home!" Mokuba laughed, running ahead.

She watched them go, before getting back to business. "Do you need help carrying the rest of your stuff down, Johnny?"

"Nah, I'll be fine."

"Don't hurt yourself old man."

He snorted. "Have you seen me Crystal? I could carry all my bags and a baby elephant!"

"One of these days I'm going to make you carry a baby elephant," she told him, "Maybe it'll make your head shrink!"

"I doubt that," Johnny said, walking back towards the castle.

"Remember Rio?" she called after him.

He whirled around. "For the last time, those old ladies weren't mugging me! I was politely giving them what I won in Bingo, because one of them needed surgery on her hip!"

Crystal laughed, "They were beating the crap out of you with their canes!"

"I could have taken them," he sniffed, "I just didn't want to hurt them."

"Riiiiiggghhhttt," she said, her voice layered with sarcasm. "Go get your bags, macho man, and bring me a baby elephant while your at it!"

"I will!" he huffed, trying to preserve his dignity.

She walked over to the group of friends who were trying mightily to contain their laughter. "It's my fault he's so full of himself. I compliment him too much," Crystal shook her head indulgently. Sometimes it was hard to tell who was older between the two of them. She turned to Yugi. "Can I talk to you privately for a moment?"

"Of course. Um... guys, do you think you could?"

"Yeah," Tristan said, "we need to find a boat anyway."

"All the boats have left," she told them.

"Kaiba wait! Hold on, we need a ride!" Joey shouted running in the direction Seto had taken with the gang close behind.

Crystal laughed and turned to Yugi. Her face turned serious. "Yugi, it's about the other spirit in you."

Yugi's eyes widened in surprise. "What about him?"

"You can never know an old spirit's intentions," Crystal explained, "One day they may help you, the next, try to steal your body. I've seen many strong people banished to the Shadow Realm when the spirits they allowed inside them stole their bodies away. I'm worried that this will happen to you."

Yugi closed his eyes, and when they opened there was a slight difference in his face and his eyes were more confident. "I can assure you, Crystal." he said, his voice subtly changed, "I mean Yugi no harm."

She frowned. "How do I know you speak the truth?"

"You'll just have to trust me."

"That goes against everything I just talked about!" Crystal scowled.

"If you do not believe I speak the truth, just look into my heart with your magic."

She froze. "How do you know about that?"

"It's easy to see, Crystal," the spirit in Yugi told her, "Even with our limited knowledge of the powers within the Millenium Puzzle, we can both see that you are a strong magician and were once very important in ancient times."

Crystal sighed, "I suppose that's all you can see."

"Like I said, our knowledge of the Puzzle's secrets is limited."

"I sense you are an honest spirit, but even those who are honest lie sometimes."

"What can I do to prove I speak the truth?" the spirit asked.

She thought for a moment, then knelt down in front of him, placing her hands so her fingertips touched his temples. "Tell me again that you mean Yugi no harm."

"I mean Yugi no harm."

His eyes did not flicker, and she felt no insincerity cross his mind. Crystal lifted her hands from his face, "You're telling the truth." That was one worry off her mind, at least. "Could you please keep an eye on Yugi? I think he might be a little danger prone."

The spirit smiled. "I've made it my duty to do just that.

Crystal leaned forward and hugged him gently, surprised at how slight he was. It was more like hugging a child than a teenager. Yugi put his arms around her, "It will all work itself out Crystal," the spirit said, sensing her worry, "You'll see."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I just am."

Yugi was surprised at the Spirit of the Puzzle's reaction to Crystal's embrace. With a careworn expression on his face, he looked more vulnerable than Yugi had ever seen him. _Are you alright, spirit?_

_Yes, Yugi, _the spirit replied_, There's just something terribly familiar about Crystal. Something from my past..._

Crystal was also shocked by the feeling of familiarity she felt. She pulled away and stood up, hiding the confusion she felt. "I'd better take off," Crystal said.

"What about Johnny?" he asked.

She sighed, "It would be best if he didn't come with me. He's not going to like the people I'll be speaking to."

"Don't get into trouble, Crystal," the spirit warned her.

She grinned, "When have I ever been in trouble?" Her eyes softened at the genuine worry on his face. "I know what I'm doing, and I will be careful. I promise."

"How do I know I can trust your word?" he asked, a small smirk on his face.

Crystal rolled her eyes and smiled. "You'd better hurry. Seto won't wait forever."

The spirit nodded. "I hope you find your brother," he said, starting to run towards where his friends went.

"Thanks!" she called after him.

Crystal followed him with her eyes, before sighing and lifting herself up into the Bessie's drivers seat. She set her bag in the back seat with all of Johnny's firearms, and after a moment's consideration, buckled it in. She could never resist doing a few tricks when she was behind the wheel and didn't want to break her laptop or get whacked in the face by her bag. After buckling herself in, Crystal noticed that Johnny had taken the keys with him, probably in an attempt to stop her from leaving without him. Her lip twitched into a small, guilty smile. He was more perceptive than she gave him credit for; and more naive. Crystal took the spare key from her pocket and started the engine. She went through her quick pre-flight checklist and then rose into the air. When she was up high enough, she redirected the engine to the plane half of Bessie and folded up the helicopter blades so they wouldn't interfere with any wind currents or throw off her tricks. The butterflies she always got during flight combined with her worry about Maximillion and how impossible it would be to find her brother, leaving her feeling nauseated.

Then came the sound Crystal dreaded the most. Her cell phone started ringing. She picked it up and checked the phone number, hoping against hope it wasn't Johnny. No such luck.

_Maybe if I don't answer, he'll stop calling,_ she thought.

_Do you really think that Crystal? _Wingweaver asked,_ This is one confrontation you can't run away from._

Crystal took a deep breath and answered the call. "Hello?" she asked tentatively.

"Crystal Cecilia Pegasus!" Johnny shouted, making her cringe, "You get your skinny little ass back here this instant!"

She bit her lip and looked to Wingweaver for support. Her friend smiled encouragingly and ushered her to say something. "I can't."

"What do you mean you can't!" he yelled. Crystal held the phone farther away from her ear, wincing. "You are going to turn that tin can around and come back!"

Her eyes narrowed. No one called her baby a tin can! "No! I won't! I don't need you following me around! I don't need you!"

"Yes you do!"

"No!" she shouted, "I told Maximillion I didn't need a bodyguard, and that's the truth! I never needed a bodyguard!"

"Crystal, you can't go there alone!" he pleaded, seeing that shouting was getting him nowhere.

"Watch me!" she yelled, slamming her cell phone into the steering wheel over and over until it was in unrecognizable bits and pieces.

_Crystal! _Wingweaver exclaimed, shocked at how mad she was.

"It... Johnny... Pegasus ... Eye..." she waved her arms around trying to express what she felt. "God dammit! What the hell happened?" Crystal pounded the steering wheel, feeling all the emotions she'd held in check crash down on her. She leaned her head against the wheel. "When did everything get so messed up?" she whispered, sobs wracking her body.

_Oh, sweety, _Wingweaver murmured,_ everything will be fine,_

_No it won't._

_You need to relax, _Her friend's eyes were sad, and Crystal could feel how much she wanted to reach out and hold her. She wouldn't have pulled away._ You're making yourself sick with all this worry._

_I can't help it, _she mumbled.

Wingweaver was silent for a while, letting her cry out her frustrations while sending her soothing thoughts and emotions.

When Crystal's sniffles stopped, her friend smiled at her gently. _Why don't you do a few tricks to let off some steam? _Wingweaver suggested.

Most people who feel like they are going to throw up from sheer sorrow and worry wouldn't think of doing death defying tricks in an airplane, but Crystal had never been most people. She found flying extremely calming. This might be because she had wings, but that could be just a fluke.

Crystal flipped on the radio and turned it to a rock station, hoping to find an angry song to let out her feelings. She placed both hands on the steering wheel, waiting for the song to start. Doing aerial tricks to music was the best therapy she knew.

"... Next up is Burn it to the Ground by Nickleback." the radio announcer declared.

"Brilliant," she whispered, her eyes brightening. Crystal's hands tightened as the song began, and she entered a steep dive. An exhilarated smile lit up her face as she pulled out of the dive and did a loop de loop. She turned up the volume as the chorous began.

We're goin' out tonight  
To kick out every light  
Take anything we want  
Drink everything in sight  
We're goin' 'til the world stops turnin'  
As we burn it to the ground tonight

Crystal rolled and twirled and dove until the song was over, feeling much better. She looked over to where Wingweaver had projected herself onto the passenger seat. "Maybe things will be alright," Crystal said.

Wingweaver laughed softly, "You are probably the first person to derive hope from that song."

Crystal laughed too, and the laughter kept building until tears were running down her face once again.

* * *

**Phew! I was running out of steam at the end there! That was hard to wrap up... LONG CHAPTERS FTW! Ok, next chapter is the "start of tangent" chapter. I won't have to watch the actual TV show so I remember what happens in the card games, because there are no cardgames! Mwahahchubaka... ha! I wIlL nOt MaKe A rEfErEnCe To De ShOw! Unless I want to :) Review plz!**


	16. Chapter 16

**For those of you who always wondered how Seto coped on the way back to Domino with Yugi and the gang, now you know.**

* * *

Seto was enjoying a feeling of satisfaction he rarely felt. His brother was safe, his company was safe, and he was going back home. He was back at the controls of his life, both literally and figuratively. Seto turned the helicopter a little to the right, just in case Crystal didn't notice them in the midst of her erratic flight. Things would be almost perfect if not for...

"Dang! Did ya see that?" Joey exclaimed.

Seto rolled his eyes. Who wasn't watching Crystal's aerial display? Joey seemed to have a need to fill any sort of silence with his asinine comments.

"I feel sick just watchin' her!"

His hands tightened on the controls. It was taking every ounce of his self-control not to throw Wheeler out of his helicopter. How could Joey's friends stand it? His voice just grated on your eardrums! How far was it now to Domino? Seto turned around and saw that the island was barely half-a-mile behind them. He stifled a groan and rubbed the bridge of his nose. This was going to be a very long flight. Why hadn't he told them to fly with Crystal? He looked to the left where Crystal had just pulled out of a barrel roll and was starting to dive. His mouth twitched into a small smirk. He should have made them fly with Crystal. A short while later, Crystal leveled off and relaxed, a blissful expression on her face.

"Looks like she's done," Joey commented.

The amusement Seto had from imagining Wheeler tumbling around crazily in Crystal's aircraft vanished. He concentrated on flying, trying to ignore him.

"Yo, Moneybags!" Joey called.

Seto gritted his teeth. "What is it Wheeler?"

"If she starts doin' tricks again, would ya let us know? You've got the bigger window."

"Only if you stop saying every thought that pops into your head," he told him.

There was blessed silence for a moment, before Joey spoke, "Alright, fine." Seto relaxed as the quiet descended. It was almost like Yugi and his cheerleaders weren't even there. Now everything was perfect.

"... I'm hungry."

Seto's eyes drifted to the button that would open the door hatch. Mokuba, his co-pilot, followed his gaze. "Don't do it Seto," Mokuba whispered, "You're too important to be put in jail for murder."

"It doesn't _have _to be murder," Seto whispered back, "It just has to put him in a coma."

"This high up and at this speed, he would die," Mokuba told him.

"Even in anime?"

"Even in anime."

He sighed, "Dammit."

Mokuba smiled sympathetically, before turning back to the book he was reading. Seto blocked out Wheeler's annoying voice and glanced out the window where Crystal was starting to turn away from them, heading on her own path. His breath caught in his throat as he stared at the cockpit of her aircraft. That wasn't possible, he must be imagining things!

There was a man sitting next to her!

* * *

Crystal turned slightly south, deciding to make a pit-stop and get some munchies. Maybe some pretzels or Bugles. Probably Bugles. She set the autopilot and leaned back, ready for a little siesta. Wingweaver knew enough about flying to warn her if something happened. After all, she had wings.

Crystal turned her head to the side trying to get comfy. "Gaaah!" she screamed, jumping back, "For the love of the light, where did you come from!"

"My apologies for startling you, Crystal," the man said.

"How do you know my name?" Her eyes widened, "Wait a minute! I know you! Maximillion made a painting of you!"

"That is true," the man said, "We've met before, you have just forgotten. My name is Shadi, and I aided your father in his struggle to control the dark energies of the Millenium Eye."

"Gee, thanks," she muttered crossly, "If Maximillion hadn't been able to control the Millenium Eye, none of this would have happened."

"These events had to take place," Shadi said, "You cannot fight fate."

Crystal crossed her arms, "None of this explains how you got here or what you want."

"As for how I got here, I will keep that secret until the time is right. What I came here for, is you."

"I guessed as much, seeing as I'm the only person in here."

Shadi's face remained expressionless, "As you know, Pegasus' Millenium Eye was stolen, creating an imbalance in the mystic alignment. It is my duty to find and punish those who steal Millenium Items."

"And you think I did it?" Crystal asked, surprised.

"You had the motive and the power to do it."

He had a good point. "I didn't do it, though!"

"There is a way to prove your innocence," Shadi told her, "Just let me search your mind."

"How are you going to search my mind?" Crystal asked.

Shadi lifted the large, gold key from around his neck. "With the power of the Millenium Key I can unlock your mind and reveal the secrets within."

Crystal thought about it for a moment. As far as she knew, she wasn't holding any bad secrets in her head, and she certainly hadn't taken Maximillion's Eye. There was nothing to fear from his search. "Alright, but can we wait until I land? I don't want miss any problems with my heliplane."

"The search will take less that a second," Shadi informed her, "What a blink of an eye is to your body, is much longer to your mind."

She sighed, "Well, if you can't wait."

"Just hold still," he told her, pressing the Key to her forehead. Shadi turned the Key as if he were unlocking a door, and Crystal felt her consciousness being sucked inside her.

"Ooff!" she huffed in surprise and she landed unceremoniously in a strange room. Crystal shook her head and stood up, looking around her. The room was a shiny white, with a few other colors blending in every so often, making the room look like it was made of mother of pearl. A long staircase, also white, but not as translucent, spiraled up the side of the room, going all the way to touch the ceiling. There were landings at regular intervals on the stairway, and Crystal could just see doorways on every tier. There were doors on the bottom level she was on, too. The doors themselves were the same white that the rest of the room was, but around the door frame were decorations. Seashells, bits of gold, even precious jewels. The strange thing was that, despite the brightness of the room, quite a few doors were cast in shadow.

What really drew her eye though, was a beautiful fountain sitting in the middle of the room. There was a lovely woman standing in its center, two large golden wings spreading from her back. A warm smile was on her face and her hands were lifted on either side of her. From her palms sprang a shimmering substance, one gold, one silver, that rained into a pool around the woman's bare feet. Crystal walked over in a trance and looked into the glittering pool. She hesitantly placed her hand in the substance and was overwhelmed by feelings of hope and peace. Her eyes closed and a smile lit her face, as her worries were swept away.

"Amazing isn't it," Wingweaver asked, sitting next to her on the fountain's edge.

"What is it?" she wondered dreamily.

"It is my gift and my duty."

"Hmm..." Crystal blinked a few times, trying to listen to her friend in the midst of the peace she felt. She considered taking her hand out of the pool, but the thought was so terribly horrendous, that she dismissed it immediately, "What do you mean?"

Wingweaver smiled at her friend's reaction to the fountain. "This is the gift I was given by the Creator of Light. Do you remember the description Pegasus put on my card?"

"_A six-winged fairy who prays for peace and hope._" Crystal quoted.

"Yes. That is where this fountain comes in. It is where the hope and peace others feel is collected and given to those who need it. It is my duty to keep it safe and make sure it is not polluted by despair or turmoil."

Crystal grinned at her woozily, "I'd say you're doing your job right."

Wingweaver sighed, "Not well enough, I'm afraid."

"What do you mean?" she asked in surprise.

"The fountain is so shallow," Wingweaver stirred the shimmering pool with her fingers, but her troubled expression remained, "There is not as much hope or peace as there once was."

"That's not your fault though." Crystal told her.

"Perhaps," Wingweaver said, standing, "But I can't help but feel as if I didn't do enough to keep hope alive."

Crystal pulled her hand out of the pool, ignoring how her mind screamed at her to put it back in. She tried to touch her friends arm, and sighed in frustration when her fingers passed right through. Maybe she was just experiencing withdrawal from the pool, but Crystal felt more hopeless than ever. If Wingweaver felt hope was leaving this world, that was certainly cause for worry.

Just then Shadi appeared from one of the doors, making them both jump. "I have found no malice here," he told them, "Now I must check your room Crystal."

"I have my own room?"

"This is my soul room Crystal," Wingweaver explained, "This room is a representation of my spirit. Your room will be a representation of your soul, too."

"I'm not sure I'd like to see that," she said, feeling doubtful.

Wingweaver smiled, "Don't worry about it Crystal, you have a beautiful soul." She beckoned her to follow and opened the largest door stepping out into a hallway.

"It is a strange coincidence that I have entered the minds of two people today, and they both share their body with another spirit," Shadi commented.

"Was it Yugi Moto?" Crystal asked.

Shadi looked at her in surprise. "Yes, how did you know?"

"He's the only person I know who falls into that category," she grinned at him, then looked at the door leading to her soul room. It was made of quartz and on it, a gold Egyptian Eye was emblazoned.

Crystal licked her lips nervously and pushed the door open. She stepped inside, looking around. The room was a warm tan color and lit by torches at regular intervals. It was rectangular and four corridors branched from it, two on each of the longer sides. In the center of the room rested the tap that controlled her magical energy. She could tell it was duller than it once was, because it was shining silver where it had recently been rubbed clean. The rest of her room was quite empty. Crystal walked over to where a dresser rested on the left side of the room, the same dresser she'd sat at in her memory of the day her mother would be buried. From a small hook hung the heart shaped necklace she now wore. _I wonder who gave it to me? _she thought idly, looking at the other things resting on her dresser. There was a delicate bracelet created from various bits of things, and she could tell it had been lovingly made.

Then she noticed a piece of paper in the corner. Crystal picked it up and unfolded it, examining the hieroglyphs that read like English to her.

_Dear Seto,_

_There's something I've been meaning to tell you, but I'm too much of a coward to say to your face. I'm in love with you. You're everything I would have looked for, if I ever went looking. But I never had to, you came to me. That might have been a bad thing. You see, I can never give you this note. My brother will always come first, and you deserve better than that Seto. Sometimes I daydream that you'll find out, and tell me that I'm being silly for staying away, that you'll gladly share me if it means I'm still part of your life. Later I feel guilty for wishing that, even if it would never happen. I hide my emotions too well. Only Wingweaver knows my secret, and it's impossible for me to keep something secret from her. So why am I writing this note you may ask? Something as big as love can't stay locked up inside you for long. Now my love is written down. It's on paper, immortalized in ink. I'll leave this note under my pillow, maybe someone will find it someday. Until then, I'll watch you when you're not looking. Discreetly, so no one will notice. That's what love is. Caring so much for someone that you are willing to let them remain oblivious to your affections, keeping them safe from the heartache you feel. I hope someday you will feel the same love i feel for you, and that the lucky girl you give it to will place you above everything else. It's what you deserve._

_Forever yours, Crystal_

Crystal's lips were parted slightly is surprise. She was in love with Seto? Then she smiled at her stupidity. It couldn't be the same Seto she knew, that was impossible! Crystal refolded the note and set it back where she found it. Her eyes caught a flicker of movement and she looked up at the mirror. She must have been imagining things, her reflection couldn't have moved! That was just...

Her thought trailed away when she realized her eyes were bright red. The gold flecks in them made her irises look like they were on fire. She blinked and rubbed her eyes, but the brilliant red remained. Her reflection smiled cruelly, showing sharp teeth.

"Crystal," Wingweaver called.

She looked over quickly and back at the mirror. Her true reflection was back, a startled and fearful expression on her face. Wingweaver walked over, "Shadi is almost done with his search," she told her. Her gaze became questioning when she saw the look on her face, "Is something wrong Crystal?"

"I-I thought I saw..." Crystal shook her head, "Nevermind, let's get him out of our head."

Wingweaver looked at her doubtfully for a moment, before leading her to the end of the room where Shadi waited for them. "I have found nothing incriminating in my search, though many of your memories are masked."

"Yeah, that kind of sucks," Crystal said. "Can we leave now."

"Not yet," Shadi said, "There is still something that must be searched." He gestured towards the wall opposite the door, and Crystal saw that another door was set into it. This one was dark, moldy, and gave her shivers down her spine.

"You can't go in there!" Crystal told him, "It's evil!"

"Precisely why I must," Shadi replied, "What are you hiding?"

Crystal looked at the door, frowning, "I don't know."

Shadi looked at her, then unlocked the door and turned the handle. Almost immediately something on the other side tried forcing it open. Shadi slammed his shoulder against the door, but the door kept edging open. Crystal and Wingweaver hurried over to help, but Crystal stopped a few feet away, seeing what was behind the door.

It was the same thing she'd seen in the mirror. It looked like her, but it's eyes were bright red and it's snarling mouth was full of sharp teeth. A pale hand slipped through the crack, it's black nailed fingers trying to force the door open further.

"Crystal!" Wingweaver shouted, "We need help!"

She didn't hear her friends cries; those burning red eyes had found hers. A smile crept across the creatures pale face and its free hand slipped out the door. "Crystal," it said, it's soft, mocking voice caressing her name, making her shudder and causing her heart to thump even faster. It lifted its hand, and a black substance began forming in it. "I have something for you."

"Crystal! Run!" Wingweaver yelled at her, shoving against the door with all her strength.

She didn't need to be told twice. Crystal whirled around and ran for the door on the other end of the room. Behind her she felt the release of dark magic and glanced behind her. The dark blob that had been growing in the creature's hand was now coming after her. _It looks like the symbiote from Spiderman 3,_ she thought wildly, before pushing herself even harder.

The black mass was too fast though. It caught her leg, making her fall to the ground. Crystal rolled onto her back, trying to push the dark substance off of her. It wrapped around her left arm, making a cut half-way up her forearm. It began slipping inside her through the incision, making her cry out in pain. She struggled to wipe it off, and succeeded slightly. Some of the black, oily substance broke off from the rest and attacked her legs, cutting through her jeans and skin to enter her body. In just a few seconds, the black mass was within her, the darkness wrapping securely around the muscles and bones of her legs and arm.

Wingweaver let go of the door and summoned her magic. The creature burst throught the door, a triumphant smile on it's face. It faded when the blast of light crashed into its chest. The creature flew back into the darkness where it came and Wingweaver slammed the door shut, locked it, and slid the deadbolt across. On the other side, the creature screamed in anger and pounded the door to no avail. Wingweaver helped Shadi up from where he'd fallen and the two rushed over to where Crystal was trying to get up.

She'd managed to prop herself up on her elbows, but her head was wobbling back and forth as she struggled to get her bearings. "Lie down," Wingweaver told her, kneeling by her side.

Crystal did, hiting her head on the hard floor, but she barely noticed. Wingweaver bit her lip in worry and passed her hand over Crystal's body, a faint light shining from her palm. "There doesn't seem to be any permanent damage. How do you feel?"

In answer, she groaned. Wingweaver bent lower and examined her arm. "Interesting," she murmured.

"What?" Crystal asked softly, her head still spinning.

"Whatever that stuff was, it appears to have barely cut you." Wingweaver shot some of her magic into her arm and monitored it closely. "Not only that, the darkness doesn't seem to be there!"

"I feel it though!" Crystal told her.

Wingweaver used magic on her legs too, with no response. "I don't know what you feel Crystal, but the only damage I can find is those little cuts."

"I'm glad she is not harmed," Shadi said.

Wingweaver's eyes burned with an anger Crystal had never seen. Her friend stood up and clenched her fists, glaring daggers at Shadi. "You could have gotten us all killed!" Shadi tried to say something, but Wingweaver interrupted him, "No! You listen to this! Crystal told you that there was something evil behind that door, and you opened it anyway! Now, that creature is mad, which I doubt is a good thing, and Crystal is barely conscious!"

"I did not mean to put you two in-"

"Get out!" Wingweaver snarled at him. Balls of white fire formed in her hands, "Get out before I make you!"

Shadi's form faded, and Wingweaver turned back to Crystal. "I'll be right back," Wingweaver told her.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine in a minute," she reassured her friend.

A blink later, and Wingweaver was gone.

Crystal sat up, having a moment of dizziness before it passed. She moved her legs and was surprised that she couldn't feel any restriction from the darkness. Maybe it was just her imagination telling her that the black mass was inside her.

She stood up, realized that probably wasn't the best idea, and staggered over to the chair in front of her dresser. A giggle came from behind the door, and Crystal glanced up at the mirror, knowing what she'd find. Those firey red eyes watched her with amusement. Crystal noticed that she was wearing a mockery of her own shirt. The shirt she wore was tye-dye black with a skull in the center of her chest. As she watched the skull's eyes lit with fire. "Sweet little Crystal," the reflection's lips moved, but her voice came from behind the door, "It's been such a long time."

"What are you?" Crystal asked.

The reflection smiled, displaying its pointed teeth, "I'm your other half, the missing piece in your mind. I know everything about you. Every secret, every emotion, every fear," The creature laced its fingers together and rested her chin there, her head cocked to the side, "I even know your lost memories. Just open the door so I can give them to you."

"Not a chance!"

The reflection in the mirror chuckled. "I will get out Crystal, one way or another."

* * *

**Author's Note: DunDunDuuunnnn! Plz review! :)**


	17. Chapter 17

**If I have angered anyone who resides in Cairo, Egypt with any inaccuracies, call me at 1-800-2BAD and I'll play a violin for you. ;)**

Crystal had landed about an hour ago and was exploring Cairo. It was a beautiful city. The buildings were a dusty brown, giving the impression that it had just risen from the desert. The pyramids loomed above the city, tall and proud. Despite all the years that had passed since she'd been away, there was still a magic that wove throughout the streets. Crystal felt a deep relief at this. She'd been afraid time had changed the people and the desert she'd loved so much, but that was not the case.

She wandered through the streets, dodging the children running around tirelessly. This place seemed so familiar, but Crystal could help but feel out of place. She no longer lived here; she was merely a tourist now.

Her exploration of the city eventually led her to the market place of Khan el-Khalili. This was by far her favorite place in Cairo. Stalls selling vibrant jewlery, clothing, perfumes, spices, glass baubles, beads, foods, and pottery lined the busy streets and sprawled down the alleys. The sound of vendors and customers bargaining prices in Arabic created a constant background as residents and tourists surged around on their business, the tourists with a look of amazement on their faces.

Crystal went against her instincts to buy something, and left the bazaar, looking for the pet shop she said she'd meet her contact. Crystal asked for directions, grateful for Wingweaver's gift of languages, and got there a few minutes early. She stepped inside the shop, thankful to be out of the blazing sun.

The man at the counter took in her pale skin. "You English?" he asked.

"I'm actually Egyptian," she answered in perfect Arabic, "I've been away from the sun for a while."

"Ahh..." the man said, "Do you wish to buy one of my animals?"

"No, I'm waiting for someone. I hope you don't mind."

The man smiled, his teeth bright in contrast with his dark skin. "Not at all. It is nice to have some company."

Crystal walked over to where a vibrantly colored bird was perched on its stand. She reached up and stroked its chest feathers with the back of her fingers. It tweeted sweetly and flapped onto her shoulder, burying itself in her long, wavy hair. "Hakim is a good sense of character," the pet shop owner said, "but I've never seen him take to someone so quickly."

She giggled as the bird tickled her neck, "I've always been good with animals."

The man looked towards the door and scowled. "You're kind aren't welcome here!" he said, eyes narrowed. Hakim fluttered from her shoulder back to his stand, calling rancorously at the visitors.

Crystal turned to look at the two men standing in the doorway. Both had the darker skin of Egyptians, but one was obviously better off than the other. You could tell by the clothes he wore and how he bore himself. The poorer man spoke up, a smirk on his face. "We won't be here long Amun; we're waiting for a client."

"No, you won't be here long," Amun growled, picking up a nearby broom, "I'll not tolerate you in my store!"

"Are you Husani?" Crystal asked, stepping forward.

"Yes," the man said, "and I assume you are Crystal Pegasus."

Amun looked at her, "This is who you've been waiting for?" he asked in disbelief.

Crystal couldn't look at him. She was well aware of the reputation these men had earned themselves, but she needed their help. They were very good at finding the people they were looking for. "You must be Zosimos," Crystal addressed the other man.

He nodded, stepping forward to shake her hand. Amun froze, looked at his bird, then back at her. "I wouldn't get involved with these people, kid. You don't know what you're dealing with."

"I have some ideas," she said, "These men excel at what they do, and I need all the help I can get to find who I'm looking for."

Amun looked at her critically, "You don't seem the type to seek out their... services."

Crystal frowned, "With all due respect Amun, this is none of your business." She walked out the door, the two men following after.

Amun watched her go, a troubled expression on his face. He looked at Hakim, "It seems you're losing your touch my feathered friend"

The bird ruffled its bright feathers and gave him a look of indignation. Amun smiled, "Of course. You're never wrong," he sighed and looked at the door again. "I'm afraid that girl's going to get herself into a heap of trouble. But, like she said, it's none of my business."

Amun walked back behind his counter and got out the bird seed. Hakim bobbed his head up and down in exitement, making him laugh at the bird's antics. He poured the seed into his dish and stepped back. Woe unto any who disturbed Hakim during meal time. Amun had just finished feeding the other birds when light spilled into the shop, heralding another visitor.

He turned and greated the man, surprised to have two pale skinned visitors in one day.

"I don't speak Arabic," the man said, looking a bit embarrassed, "Do you know any English?"

"A little," Amun smiled, "What you need?"

The man reached into his wallet and pulled out a picture. "I'm looking for this girl," he said, handing it to him, "Have you seen her?"

He looked at the photo of the girl who'd just been here. Her warm blue eyes were lit by the soft smile on her face. Her head rested on her hand and she stared off into the distance. "Why you looking for this girl?" Amun asked.

"I make sure she doesn't get into mischief."

"Mischief?" he asked, "I do not know word."

"Umm..." the man rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "I keep her safe."

Amun raised an eyebrow, "You lose her?"

"Ugh... Don't get me started. She's always running off on her little adventures. I need to put a beeper on that kid," he ran a hand over his face, "Have you seen her or not?"

"Yes, went with two men short time back. Bad people. Am worried for her."

The man groaned, "Perfect, which way did they go?"

"Right, that all I saw," Amun told him, handing back the picture.

"Thanks," he said, putting the photo back in his wallet and heading for the door.

"Be careful," Amun called after him, "Men kill for living."

"They always do," the man muttered, stepping out the door.

Johnny turned right and ran, hoping to catch up before they turned down another street. _You are in so much trouble Crystal. Forget those men, I'll kill you myself!_

* * *

Husani and Zosimos led Crystal to an outdoor cafe. They sat at a table farther away from the other diners, Husani glaring at any who dared look their way. "So, Crystal," Zosimos said, "Who do you want us to silence?"

"That's not the reason I've contacted you," Crystal told him, "I need to find someone, my brother."

Zosimos frowned, "That's not our business."

"I'm prepared to pay you twice the amount of money you're usually paid," she told him. "Half for accepting the job, and half for finding him."

Husani's eye flashed with greed, "$40,000!" he exclaimed, grinning. (I'm using American money because I'm American. And it's my fic. ;D Mwahahaha!)

Zosimos glanced at him disaprovingly and Husani cringed. It was clear who was the boss of this duo. "We'll do it," Zosimos said.

Crystal reached into her purse and pulled out her checkbook, writing him a check for $20,000 U.S. dollars. She handed it to him and saw the first emotion she'd ever seen cross his face. Avarice.

"Do you have a picture of him?" he asked, tucking the check away in his jacket.

She shook her head, "I could have found him on my own if that were the case."

"Any pictures of you're parents?"

"No."

"A picture of a close family member?"

Crystal sighed, "No."

"Hmm..." Zosimos muttered. He wanted to ask how she'd become so detatched from her family, but he didn't. He was a professional. "In that case, I'll need to take a picture of you." He slipped his hand into his pocket and brought out his phone. Zosimos took her photo and sent it to his computer, ready to be compared to millions of people. He put the phone away and took out a piece of paper and a pen. "Do you know you're brother's age?"

"He's younger than 17, older than..." she trailed off thinking about it, "10."

"That should be enough for the time being," Zosimos told her, standing. "We'll contact you when we need more information."

"Let me give you my cell number."

Zosimos gave her a condescending look. "We already know it."

Crystal looked up into his cold blue eyes and suppressed a shiver, "Right..."

"Until we meet again Crystal," Zosimos nodded to her and walked away, Husani trailing behind him like a dog.

When they'd left, Crystal closed her eyes, relieved that the meeting was over with. Zosimos gave her the creeps.

She heard a chair scrape next to her and looked to see who it was. "Johnny!" Crystal jumped up, but he grabbed her arm and dragged her back down into her chair. She winced as he pressed on the tender bruise on her left arm.

"You are in so much trouble missy!" he told her.

Crystal cringed and felt guilt wash across her face. "I knew you would try to stop me."

"Damn straight! You shouldn't be near those people! You're danger prone enough without asking for trouble!" He sighed at the look on her face and gave her a one armed hug. "I was worried about you."

"Sorry," she murmmured, not looking in his eyes.

"No you're not. The only thing you're sorry about is that you scared me."

She smiled a little, "Yeah."

Johnny let go of her arm now that he was sure she wasn't going to run away. "Come on, let's go find a place to stay."

Crystal looked at him in surprise. "You mean you're not going to drag me back home?"

"After what Pegasus did, I'm not taking you anywhere near him. And, since we're here, we might as well find your brother."

Crystal jumped up and hugged him tightly, "Thank you," she said in a heartfelt whisper.

He patted her back gently, "Anytime flutterbug."

* * *

**Author's Note: I couldn't resist having Crystal and Johnny make up. :) Sorry it took me so long to write this, I had a major case of writer's block and a lot's been going on the past week. It might take me a while to write the next one too. Then again, maybe not. I've just discovered these really good sound canceling headphones so I'm not distracted so easily. It's like I'm in a little bubble. It's freaking fantastic! Anyways, I hope you like the chapter. Review plz.**


	18. Chapter 18

_One month later._

Crystal brushed the hair out of her face and gazed longingly out the window, wishing to be outside. It was raining, the first rain she'd seen since arriving in Egypt. It ran down the glass and dripped down into the street below, where countless children were dancing around, reveling in the miracle.

She really wanted to be outside.

"Crystal, are you listening to me?"

"Hmm..." Crystal blinked and looked at Johnny, "No, I'm not."

Johnny sighed, "She told me this would happen."

"Who did?" she asked her eyes wandering back to the window.

"Ishizu Ishtar! The girl I've been talking to you about for the last five minutes!"

"Oh, so that's what you've been blathering about."

Johnny ran a hand through his hair and stood up, "I give up, you obviously don't care."

"About what?"

Johnny just looked at her. "Do you really want to know?"

"No."

The doorbell rang and Johnny went to answer it while Crystal stared out their apartment window, losing herself in the patter of rain. Rainy days should be spent outside, not talking about some lady.

"I saw you give up, so I came over to talk to her myself." Crystal looked up at the visitor. She was about her age, with straight black hair that fell to the middle of her back. She took off her light jacket and hung it on the coat rack next to her umbrella. Her eyes widened slightly when she noticed the visitor had a Millenium Item. Crystal probed her mind with her magic, but couldn't sense any evil there, easing her worries. The woman walked over to her and bowed. "It is an honor to meet you, my princess."

She blinked in surprise and looked at Johnny, "Why don't you ever greet me like that?"

He groaned and left the room, shaking his head. Crystal giggled and turned back to the visitor, standing to shake her hand. "My name is Crystal, and you are?"

"Ishizu Ishtar," she said, "I have information regarding your brother."

"Did Zosmimos send you?" Crystal asked. The hit man hadn't contacted her for two weeks. Their search was drawing to a close, and soon Crystal would finally know where her brother was. This could be the news she'd been hoping for.

Ishizu's blue eyes darkened, "I would not involve myself with such a man." Crystal hid her disappointment. Patience had never been her strong-suit.

"She's got more smarts than you do, Crystal," Johnny called from the kitchen.

"At least I have some, unlike some brainless brutes who leave the only the butt ends of the bread and don't tell me to buy more!"

"It was one time!" Johnny protested, this time his voice sounded muffled by food.

Ishizu smiled. "I've counted five separate times!" she called.

Crystal glanced at her, ignoring Johnny's indignant splutterings from the kitchen. "I've been counting, too. How did you know?"

"My Millenium Necklace grants me visions of the past and future," she explained.

_The past._ "And you've seen something about my brother?"

Ishizu nodded, "A great deal, but that is not all. Come with me. There is something you must see."

"Don't forget your umbrella, Crystal!" Johnny shouted from the kitchen.

"I know, I know!" she groaned, getting it from the closet along with a windbreaker. "Are you coming with, Johnny?"

Johnny appeared from the kitchen, a bit of peanut butter on his cheek, "I wouldn't miss it for the world."

"You have peanut butter all over your face," Crystal told him. Johnny picked up his shirt and brought it to his face. "No! Not on your shirt!" she scolded, "Go to the bathroom and wash up. Off with you!"

Crystal shook her head as he rounded the corner. "He's a five-year-old in a man's body."

"They all are," Ishizu grinned, prompting a giggle from Crystal.

Johnny appeared 64 seconds later, face washed and hair combed. She scowled at him, "I told you not to wipe it on your shirt!"

"But I didn't!"

"Oh, yeah," Crystal said, walking over. "Then what is this?" she asked, poking his chest.

He looked down and Crystal flicked his nose with her finger. "Made you look!" she grinned, "Now come on! Let's go!"

Crystal dragged Johnny out into the hall and ran for the staircase, followed by a bemused Ishizu. "Why don't we ever take the elevator?" Johnny whined.

"Because this is more fun!'' she laughed, sliding down the railing.

"Loads," Johnny muttered, walking down the stairs with Ishizu. "Did the scriptures mention anything about her being a total spaz?"

Ishizu shook her head, "Quite the opposite. The scriptures say she grew solemn as she grew older, the weight of her responsibilities making her lose the childish nature many looked to for comfort."

"I can't imagine her being solemn," Johnny said, watching her bounce with impatience at the landing before sliding down the next railing. "It's not in her repertoire."

"It soon will be."

Johnny looked at her, "What do you mean?"

"As her memories return, so will her personality. She will remember her responsibilities and what she has lost, and grow distant."

Johnny was silent for a moment, trying to picture Crystal as a detached person. There was a time about a month after Pegasus saved her from the Shadow Realm that she was quiet and thoughtful, her eyes dull and distant. He'd thought she'd just been shy and trying to adjust to her new life, but that could have been what she was like before Pegasus stole away her memories. "What has she lost?"

"Far too much. It's a marvel her mind did not break under the stress of what she went through."

"In the apartment, you called her a princess," Johnny said hesitantly.

"Yes."

"Does that mean that she's a..."

Ishizu smiled, "She is of royal blood, the daughter of the Pharaoh Aknamkanon."

His eyes widened, "Wow..." Johnny's mouth twitched into a smile, "She certainly acts like a princess sometimes."

"Hurry up!" Crystal called from the bottom of the stairs, "I'm not getting any younger!"

Johnny grinned at Ishizu, "Hold your horses!" he called to her, "Keep in mind I'm an old man!"

She rolled her eyes and ran outside. Johnny smiled and turned back to Ishizu, "How old is she?"

"That is an interesting question. When she turned 17 she stopped aging."

"How is that possible?" Johnny asked.

"The scriptures don't say. She was 25 when she was lost to the shadows, but still looked 17."

Johnny nodded, "That explains how she never looks any different," he looked at Ishizu, "How long was she in the Shadow Realm?"

"5000 years."

Johnny's face paled, "5000 years," he repeated, "That can't be! How could she have survived? I mean, look at her!"

Outside, Crystal was dancing around in the rain with the children, looking like a little girl. "Looks mean nothing," Ishizu told him, "She's intelligent, strong, and light on her feet. It is not so impossible."

"But, 5000 years fighting off monsters and being trapped in the dark!"

"The scriptures were very clear on one point. She is a remarkable individual."

"You don't have to tell me that," Johnny said, "I already know. I just didn't know how amazing she really was."

Crystal opened the door and scowled at them, "Come on! You can talk on the way to wherever it is we're going!"

He rolled his eyes, "We better hurry before she carries us."

They walked through the door and Johnny shook his head at Crystal. "You're soaking wet! Use your umbrella!"

"If I'm already soaking wet, why would I need an umbrella?"

"You'll catch a cold," he warned her.

"Rubbish! I'm perfectly fine!"

Johnny shrugged, "Suit yourself. I'd enjoy you being sick; I'd finally be able to keep up with you."

"I don't know about that. You have a tendency to move slower than the couch."

Ishizu smiled at their squabbling. "We'll take my car," she said, leading them to a silver Mercury Milan.

"I call shotgun!" Crystal called out, running to the other side of the car.

Everyone piled in and Ishizu took off, winding through the streets of Cairo and out of the city.

"Where are we going?" Crystal asked, turning around to watch the city fall behind them.

"You'll see. It's not much farther."

Ishizu turned off the road and onto a dirt path that was barely visible in the rain. It wound among some impressively large boulders that loomed above them. Crystal tapped her fingers on her legs. This had to be something big. A psychic like Ishizu was used to seeing important matters throughout history and into the future. She wouldn't have bothered to come see her if it wasn't of the utmost importance.

"Are we there yet?" Johnny asked, grinning.

"Actually, yes," Ishizu told him, slowing the car down.

"Awesome!" Crystal grinned, hopping out of the still moving car and into the rain.

Johnny rolled his eyes. It wasn't the first time she'd jumped out of a moving vehicle. It _was_ the first time he didn't have to jump after her.

When they got out of the car, Crystal tapping her foot impatiently. "Come on! I've been waiting a month for a breakthrough, let's go!"

"I'm tempted to walk slower," Johnny whispered to Ishizu.

She laughed softly and turned toward where a large white bolder stood pressed against a sheer cliff face. "In here lies the Tablet of Lost Memories."

"Who's memories?" Crystal asked.

"Your brother's."

She looked down the dark staircase leading deep underground. "We'd best be going then," she said, nervously biting her thumb nail. Johnny took her other hand, squeezing it reassuringly. Crystal smiled up at him, her worry fading a little.

Ishizu led them down the stairway, the Millenium Necklace glowing to provide some light to see by. When they reached the end of the stairs, she led them into a chamber that seemed to be lit, but not from anything she could see. On the far side of the room stood a tablet. As she drew closer, Crystal could see that in its center stood two people with their hands raised to each other. _They're fighting_, she thought unconsciously, _the fate of the world hangs on this fight._

Then she recognized the combatants. "That's Seto and Yugi!" Crystal blurted, "No, it's Seth and..." Her voice trailed away as she looked at the simple carving that looked so much like Yugi. Crystal reached up hesitantly, her fingers hovering in front of his face. "My Pharaoh. My brother." She gently touched his face and images began to flash through her head: a burning city, an ornate room where a throne rested, charred rubble of a once great city. They were followed by bits of voices. They whirled around her head, making no sense.

_"You can't go!"_

_"What if he can't be found?"_

_"You cannot stop me, _mortal!_"_

_"Don't cry for me Crissy, go save your people."_

_"You think you can protect him? You can't even protect yourself!"_

Crystal staggered back and was caught by Johnny and Ishizu. "Are you alright, Crissy?" Johnny asked, helping her sit down.

"Yeah," she said, dazed, "Just a little... confuzed. What happened?"

"Those were some of your memories," Ishizu explained, "They probably won't make sense until you get your memory back."

"'Kay, 'cause I don't get it," Crystal said, rubbing her temples, wishing her head would stop spinning with those images and words.

Ishizu sat next to her, "I didn't expect you to. That's why I'm here; to help you understand. You are the daughter of the Pharaoh Aknamkanon, sister of the Nameless Pharaoh."

"Nameless?" she asked.

Ishizu pointed to the Tablet of Lost Memories. "The kartush where his name would have been carved is worn away, and his name is not mentioned in the scriptures."

"Seems to be a pretty big detail to skip over..." Crystal said.

"His name is a seal. In the wrong hands, it could spell doom for all."

"What does his name seal?"

"The greatest darkness the world has ever seen," Ishizu told her.

Crystal nodded, "Barney."

Ishizu blinked and looked at her. "Alright!" Crystal said, raising her hands, "I'll be serious, I promise."

"The great darkness is the same demon that created the Shadow Realm. Its name is Zorc."

"Zorc!" Her eyes widened as her memory kicked in.

_Crystal was hovering in the air, watching the demon, Zorc, as he roared in anger. Sweat ran down her face as she struggled to keep up the beam of light. She had to distract this monstrosity, or it would destroy her brother. "Please hurry little brother," she whispered, dropping a little lower. Her magic began to peter out, and her wing beats became laboured. "No!" she cried out, looking at her hands where there was barely a crackle of energy. Crystal looked back up just in time to see the black mass of magic hurtle towards her. She didn't have time to fly out of the way. Crystal covered her face with her hands as the darkness hit her, sending her careening to the ground below. _My brother,_ she thought dimly as consciousness left her, _I have to...

"Crystal!" Johnny shouted, shaking her.

Her eyes fluttered open, and she realized she was laying down. "Zorc..." she moaned. "My brother..."

Her eyes closed again, and Johnny resumed shaking her. "Stoppit," Crystal mumbled.

"We should get her home," Ishizu told Johnny.

Crystal felt herself be lifted off the floor and carried up the stairs. "Johnny..."

"Yeah, Crissy?"

"You need to take a shower," she told him, closing her eyes again.

Johnny glanced at Ishizu, "I have a feeling she'll be just fine."

When they set her in the car, several things snapped together into a realization that made her move her heavy eyelids. "My brother..."

"Don't worry, we'll find him," Johnny said.

"No, I know where he is."

They both looked at her. "Where, Crissy?" Johnny asked.

"He's the spirit in the Puzzle," she mumbled, "He's with Yugi..." Her eyes closed again and she slept peacefully. She finally knew where to find her brother.

* * *

**Author's Note: Yay! In the next chapter, she gets to be bad ass! Review plz! I mean it! I've seen how many visitors were on my page last chapter, and only two people reviewed! Gurgle! So, as I was saying, Review! Plz :)**

**And another thing. I'm plannin on changing the summary, so if that's how you find my fanfic... don't do that anymore...**


	19. Chapter 19

**Super Fast Update Action!**

* * *

Crystal met Zosimos on the top of one of a short warehouses fenced off from the rest of the city. It was as good a place as any to tell him their deal was off.

Zosimos didn't come alone. There were ten men with him, and she knew there were more at ground level. She could see their shadows milling around below them. Crystal was beginning to regret telling Johnny to wait for her at the apartment.

The hit man's icy blue eyes darkened when she told him he wouldn't get his money. "We made a deal," he hissed stepping towards her.

"The deal was you'd get your money when you found him, which you've failed to do," she said, unperturbed, "Besides, I found him myself."

His lip curled into a snarl, "We've spent time and money on this, and I'm not letting you go until I get my 20 grand!"

"I'm prepared to give you 10,000 for your expenses, but you're not getting all of it."

Zosimos grabbed her arm, and Crystal's eyes hardened. "Let go, or you'll regret it."

"You'll give us the full 20 grand," he told her, his other hand reaching for his belt.

_He's got a gun! _Crystal punched him in the face and jumped off the edge of the building. She clicked her heels together as she fell, making the roller blades hidden in the soles pop out. Crystal allowed herself a smug grin. It paid to be a whiz kid in Engineering. She used her magic to slow her decent. Despite the fact that this was an anime, she'd still break her roller blades landing on them at this speed.

She landed lightly and took off. There was a moment of silence, before she heard Zosimos' shout, "After her! Bring her back!"

Unfortunately for Crystal, he'd neglected to tell his henchmen she needed to be alive. Gunshots rang out and bullets whizzed past her, spurring her to go faster.

One of them found their mark.

Crystal yelped as the bullet passed through her arm and dodged behind a warehouse, finally out of the line of fire. She pressed her hand against the wound and kept going, making for the exit.

Half-way there, she wiped her hand on her shirt and got her phone from her pocket. "Johnny, I need you to pick me up."

"Don't worry, I'm waiting where you came in."

Crystal gave a small, pained smile, "I love it when you don't listen to me."

"Good, now hurry up."

She ended the call and pushed herself faster, dodging the random henchmen that had been left behind among the buildings. Zosimos really didn't want her to leave.

Crystal managed to make it to the entrance without getting shot again. She saw the black car and climbed in just as several henchmen ran out from the maze of warehouses, guns at the ready. "Go! Go! Go!" she shouted at Johnny, struggling to buckle up with one arm.

They screamed away, a few bullets hitting the car, but not causing a terrible amount of damage. One went through her passenger window and out the front, but the cracks didn't mess with Johnny's driving.

"I see you made some new friends," Johnny said.

"I know, I know. You told me so."

Johnny glanced at her, and gasped. "You got shot!"

"Yeah, don't worry about it."

"Are you joking! I'm taking you to a hospital!"

"No, keep going to the airstrip," she told him.

"You're in no shape to be flying Bessie home!"

Crystal glared at him, "I don't want to do this while you're driving, Johnny."

"Do what?"

"This." She passed her hand over the bullet hole and it healed, leaving her tired, but no longer in need of hospitalization. "All better."

Johnny stared at her, his jaw slack. "Eyes on the road," she told him, grabbing his chin and forcing him to return his attention back to the road.

He was silent for a minute, his eyes wide and his mouth moving with his thoughts as he tried to work this out. "The airstrip it is," he finally managed to say, his voice cracking.

"Come on," she teased him, "You've seen how Pegasus sent me to the Shadow Realm and how Ishizu can predict the future. You should have known there was magic."

"It's just... I never expected you to be able to..."

Crystal nodded and looked out the cracked windshield, watching the airstrip come into view. _What the heck,_ she thought, _Let's spill all the beans._

"Hey, Johnny."

"Yeah."

"Do you remember how Maximillion based the card Wingweaver off of me?" she asked.

"Mmmhmm. It looks just like you except for the hair and the wings." A few seconds later he froze. He slowly turned to look at her, "You don't have wings do you?"

"Yeah, I do," she smiled sheepishly. Johnny looked like his head was about to pop.

He pulled into the airstrip and parked next to Ishizu. He got out and glared at her. "Did you know she had wings?"

"Yes."

"Why didn't anyone tell me about this!" Johnny demanded looking at them angrily.

Crystal got out and walked around towards them. "You just about had a heart attack when I healed myself. We knew you wouldn't take this well. There's no need to get so angry."

While Johnny tried to think of a snappy reply, Crystal took the liberty of cleaning the blood off her clothes. The blood floated off and gathered into a ball, which she navigated to a garbage can on the far end of the strip and dropped it in.

Johnny was staring again. "Is everything in Bessie?" she asked Ishizu.

She nodded. "Good. Everyone pile in."

Crystal could hear Johnny's heavy footsteps behind her. "Stop Johnny!" Ishizu cried.

Too late. Johnny's hand grabbed her left forearm, and pain exploded all around her. She couldn't force back the cry of agony that escaped her lips as he pressed on the bruise that still marked her arm. The bruise that just wouldn't go away. He quickly let go, his eyes wide, and she sunk to the ground, tears rolling down her cheeks. The tarmac was hot beneath her damp skin.

Johnny gently lifted her head off the ground and laid it on his broad shoulder. "I-I'm so sorry Crissy. I forgot about your bruise."

Crystal nodded, cradling her arm as the pain gradually resided, "It's fine," she told him, her voice a whisper.

"Couldn't you just heal that bruise?" he asked.

"It won't heal; I've already tried. It doesn't like being disturbed." She shivered and stood up, leaning on Johnny for support. Crystal glanced down at the bruise and saw the tiny, vein-like shadows there moving about angrily.

When she looked over at Ishizu, she saw her friend's eyes were bright with unshed tears. Ishizu knew the truth. Crystal looked up at Johnny. His eyes were concerned, but not for the right reasons. Was it cruel to keep something like this from Johnny? He'd probably hate her forever for not telling him what was happening to her. Ever since she'd flown over here, since Shadi had opened the door to the dark spirit's room, she'd been increasingly tired, but she didn't want to sleep, or eat, or even leave the apartment. Crystal had felt sick ever since the darkness had slipped inside her. Wingweaver was constantly telling her to eat, to go outside. She fussed over her like a mother hen, not that it would make a difference.

What would change if she told Johnny the truth? He'd hover around her, just like Wingweaver was. He'd be depressed, always waiting for that one day. Crystal wasn't ready to tell him. She knew it would break his heart. She wouldn't tell Johnny she was dying until the last possible moment. Then he wouldn't have to endure the waiting as long. The waiting for her heart to stop beating and her breath to still.

"Come on," she said, walking towards Bessie, "Japan is calling."

* * *

The small group had arrived in Domino City, Japan and were going through inspections. "It's raining out!" one of the others in line groaned, followed by several other moans of disappointment. Still more just scowled.

"What strange perspectives these people have," Ishizu commented.

"I know," Crystal said, "How can these people hate rain?"

"It ruins weekends, it's cold, it's wet, it ruins hair, it is a part of dangerous weather, etc.," Johnny said.

"It's also necessary for survival, makes the air smell good, waters plants, etc.," Crystal smirked, "You were just in the desert. What's your take on rain now?"

He grinned, "I'm all for it!"

They finally passed through inspections and gathered by the door. "Good luck trying to convince Seto to start the tournament," Crystal told Ishizu.

"He will, but he won't believe in his ancient past."

She shrugged, "He'll come around eventually."

"Eventually," Ishizu said, rolling her eyes, "I've never met such a sceptical person in my life."

Johnny smiled, "And you haven't even met him yet."

She chuckled softly, "I'd better get going, or I'll be late meeting with the museum directors."

Crystal hugged her goodbye, and Ishizu whispered in her ear, "You should tell him, Crystal."

"Not yet," she whispered back, "It hasn't progressed very far. There's still time."

Ishizu sighed and pulled away, hiding her disappointment and hugging Johnny goodbye as well.

They watched her run out into the rain and hail a taxi. "So," Johnny said, "Are we going over to Yugi's?"

"No."

"Why not?" he asked.

"It's not time yet. Besides, if this Marik guy knew about me, he might try to brainwash me and use me against the Pharaoh. I know he's my brother, and that's enough for now."

Johnny nodded, "Where's the place you bought?" **(Author's Note: I don't understand how the Japanese address system works, so I'm gonna use Western style. Because it's my fanfic.)**

"5641 Blossom Street," she told him as they walked out the airport doors. Crystal raised her hand to summon a taxi and when she got in, she scooted all the way over so Johnny could follow. She told the man her address and they sped away.

"I'm guessing you're gonna be in the tournament Kaiba will throw."

"Of course, I wouldn't miss it! Who knows, I could finally have the chance to duel him!" she smiled brightly at the thought. "I wonder what he's been up to for the past month..."

Johnny looked out the window so she wouldn't see his smirk. Crystal was totally smitten with Kaiba, even though she'd never admit it. He'd never understood why Crystal liked him so much. Maybe she thought she could change him or some other deluded notion. Either way, he got a laugh out of watching her eyes light up whenever Kaiba was mentioned. Johnny watched her from the corner of his eyes. Her blue, gold-flecked orbs were distant as she stared out the window, and there was a softness in her face. _Ha! She's still thinking about him!_

His smile faded as he watched her hand stroke the bruise on her left arm. She should have it checked out again. When it hadn't faded, Johnny took her to the doctor to make sure she didn't have cancer, but the doctor said there was nothing wrong with her. It had been there for a month now, and it just kept getting bigger. The bruise shouldn't hurt her so much either. She almost passed out when he'd grabbed her arm back in Egypt!

He decided to take her into the hospital again. It was better to be safe than sorry.

* * *

**Author's Note: I know, I'm mean, but this is necessary. Review Plz!**


	20. Chapter 20

**I'm gonna take time out to thank the people who've reviewed this fanfic. Especially the ones that keep on reviewing! That's right, I'm looking at you Sara Darkotter, DarkMagicianGirl 512, Bookfanx100, joey'sBrooklynRage (or tailsiskool67), and Dick Turpin. Huggles!**

* * *

"I told you so."

"It doesn't hurt to be careful," Johnny told her.

Crystal rolled her eyes, but inside she was squirming with guilt. "It's just a bruise."

He held the hospital doors open for her, "It's my job to worry about you."

"You do it too well," Crystal grinned at him, stepping out into the late-afternoon sun.

Johnny frowned, "Maybe we should get a second opinion..."

"No!" she yelled at him, whirling around, "For the love of the light, I'm fine! My blood test came up negative. I am perfectly healthy!"

"I get worried when you act so defensive," he said, his eyes narrowing.

"I'm not defensive!" Crystal defended, "I'm annoyed. You're blowing this wildly out of proportion."

Johnny scowled at her and they continued walking down the street in silence. Things were getting a bit heated between the two of them. Johnny was always worried about her (not without good reason) and it was driving her crazy. Crystal couldn't walk though the front door without him saying "Are you feeling alright, Crystal? Anything I can do for you? How's your arm feeling?"

She knew he just wanted her her to be safe, but honestly! When she had to sneak in through her window so Johnny wouldn't drill her on her health, you know it's getting way out of hand!

"Crystal! Look out!" Johnny grabbed the back of her shirt and pulled her back just in time to avoid the car that sped through the intersection against the light. Okay, maybe she needed someone to be overprotective of her.

Crystal didn't even stop to realize she'd almost been roadkill. "Hey you! Get back here so I can sue your ass!" She shouted, flicking the driver off.

To her surprise, the car pulled over and stopped across the street. Crystal ran over, memorizing the license plate as she did, and she noticed the words painted on the back. Student Driver. Of course. Well, at least Crystal would be able to give him a life lesson. She decided to word it as elegantly as possible "Don't you know what a red light is! You almost flattened me you jackass!"

The driver's door opened and a tall, brown haired man got out. His brilliant blue eyes were still a little wide from shock. Crystal blinked in surprise. "Seto?"

His face was bright red, but he tried to feign indifference, leaning casually against the car. "Crystal. It's nice to see your back in Japan."

"What are you doing in a Student Driver car?"

He raised an eyebrow at her. "I'm learning how to drive, obviously," Seto said slowly, enunciating every syllable.

"You mean, you don't have your licence yet?"

Seto shrugged, "I never had the time."

"Did you bribe your instructor to pass you or something? You obviously missed a few classes."

His eyes narrowed, "I was the top of my class."

"You must have had a bunch of idiots with you then, if you don't even know that a red light means put your damn foot on the brake!"

Surprisingly, Seto winced. "I'm... not the best driver..."

Crystal's jaw dropped. He was admitting weakness! Wow! This was worth the near-death experience! "Close your mouth Crystal, you look like an idiot."

She shook herself and noticed he'd taken out his checkbook. "How much were you planning on suing me for?" Seto asked.

"Forget it, I have enough money," Crystal said, waving him away, "I've been selling my ideas to this one company. I get a monthly check, a percentage of the profit, and, if money gets tight, I'm good at playing the stocks."

He shrugged, slipping the checkbook back into his pants pocket. Another thing out of the ordinary. He was wearing jeans and a black T-shirt instead of the imposing jacket/cape she usually saw him in. Seto looked back up at Crystal and saw she was staring at him with a puzzled expression. "What?" he demanded.

"It's weird seeing you in something that doesn't billow crazily behind you," she explained, smiling.

"... Oh."

"So, it was Kaiba who almost killed you," Johnny said, running up, trying unsuccessfully to hide the anger on his face. He'd waited for the walk signal, unlike Crystal.

She blocked him from getting anywhere near Seto. "I don't want any macho crap from you Johnny."

He shrugged carelessly, cracking his knuckles, "Of course. I wouldn't want to break his pretty face."

"I could take you anywhere, anytime, any day," Seto retorted.

_Oh, no. Not the macho crap!_

"You wouldn't stand a chance, Richy Rich."

"Try me. I think you'll be unpleasantly surprised."

Crystal rolled her eyes and grabbed both of their shirts, dragging them down to her height. "It doesn't matter which of you would beat the other in a fight, 'cause I'm still better than both of you!" she said, pushing them away and folding her arms crossly.

"We'll have to test that sometime," Johnny grinned.

Seto gave one of his half-laughs that barely passed for amusement. "Maybe," he said, looking at Crystal, "Stay in Domino tonight, I have an announcement to make."

_I know what it is_, she thought cheekily. Ishizu had called that morning, telling her the exact time he'd be announcing the tournament. "Where will the announcement be?" she asked, knowing it would be on every possible surface in Domino.

"Don't worry, you can't miss it."

No kidding.

Seto was about to get back in the car when she tapped him on the shoulder. When he turned around to see what she wanted, Crystal hugged him tightly. "You enjoy creating awkward moments, don't you?" he asked, waiting for her to let go.

"They wouldn't be so awkward if you weren't such a stiff," she growled, pulling away.

He smirked and patted her head before getting back in the car. Crystal narrowed her eyes at the condescending act, but her anger quickly turned to terror when she realized she was within 200 feet of Seto driving a car. Johnny and Crystal hopped onto the sidewalk, praying Seto wouldn't jump it on accident. Fortunately, he didn't hit them. Unfortunately, he was back on the road, a threat to people, pets, and property everywhere.

"Let's go home," Johnny said, pressing the button to change the light.

"I thought you wanted to go to the movies."

"Yeah, but it will be dark by the time we leave. If Kaiba's still on the road..." he shivered, "I don't want to push my luck."

Hard to argue with that logic. Home suddenly seemed the safest place to be, especially since her room was the farthest from the street.

* * *

Crystal was pretty sure she was dreaming. There wasn't anything weird with the setting. She could tell she was in Domino City. Yugi and his friends were there, talking and laughing as they walked up the street. Crystal recognized a few other people she didn't know by name, too. So why did she think this was a dream? Reason one: she remembered lying down on the couch to take a nap. Reason two: Seto Kaiba was smiling. Not only that, he was on a motorcycle. Not only that, he was smiling at _her _while on the motorcycle. Not only that, he wanted her to take a ride with him.

Wingweaver was going to give her hell over this.

At the moment though, she really didn't care. It didn't even cross her mind that she should be terrified to be riding in any motor vehicle he was driving. Crystal slipped on behind him, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist and resting her head on his shoulder. "You should be wearing a helmet!" she yelled over the motor.

"This is a dream, Crystal," he shouted back, "We're not going to crash unless you want us to."

To her utter shame, she squeaked when Seto pulled away, making him laugh. It was a beautiful sound.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"You'll see."

Crystal slowly relaxed as Seto traversed the streets to their unknown destination. She lifted her head and softened her death grip around his middle, keeping her hands on his sides to steady herself. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling of wind pulling through her hair. It was just like flying, only she didn't need to beat her wings.

When she opened her eyes again, Crystal realized they were driving through the park. Now she was positive this was a dream. No one was screaming at them to go away; nobody was even there.

Seto slowly pulled to a stop and they got off. The park had promptly dropped off into a cliff overlooking the ocean. It was a pity the real park didn't do this; it was a spectacular view. Seto's arm slowly wrapped around her side, causing her to have a mental freak-out.

_Okay, let's think about this rationally. Dreams are products of our thoughts and struggles throughout the day. So, how did I get from my day to here?_

Seto's thumb started rubbing little circles on her side. She closed her eyes and sighed.

_This is probably a result of my near-death experience. Damn, I should have those more often._

His other hand brushed her cheek, making her open her eyes. That beautiful smile was back, the one she'd probably never see in real life. His left hand rested on her hair, and his right tightened around her waist.

_Oh, so that's what it means to have smoldering eyes..._

Seto leaned in slightly.

_Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod!_

His eyes closed and she could feel his soft breath on her face.

_OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD!_

Seto's lips brushed hers gently, his fingers pulling through her hair.

_...ohmygod..._

He pulled away, a smirk on his face.

_Oh, come on! That barely counts as a kiss!_

Then she noticed a strange sound was echoing through the park. She looked around wildly for the source, but couldn't see where it was coming from. Seto's fingers brushed her cheek, his blue eyes amused, "Wake up, Crystal."

* * *

Crystal's eyes snapped open and she grabbed her pillow, screaming into it in frustration. That was so unfair!

Then she heard it; laughter. Really loud laughter. The kind of laughter that would wake someone up while they were having one of the best dreams of their life.

Crystal threw her pillow at Johnny, realized that wasn't enough, and threw the TV remote at him too. "You woke me up you jerk!"

Johnny was sitting in his armchair, still laughing and rubbing his head where the remote hit him. "You should have heard yourself!" he snickered, "It was priceless!" He managed to pull himself together long enough to mimic her. "Oh my god! Oh my god!" he said, barely making it through before bursting into hysterics. "You sounded like you were losing your virginity!"

Crystal could feel her cheeks redden. At least she hadn't said his name out loud; now that would be embarrassing.

"And then, you said his name!" he laughed even harder. "Seto! Oh my god!" Johnny mimicked.

That was it. She'd have to kill him. "Johnny! You are so dead!" Crystal screamed at him, launching herself at Johnny, eyes blazing.

It was even more embarrassing when he caught her and was able to contain her. Crystal's face was buried in the arm of the chair that smelled like root beer, Johnny's favorite pop. Her legs were sticking out the other side and Johnny had her arms held behind her back, completely comfortable. Crystal was beginning to suspect he let her win the mock fights they got into. He held her arms with one hand, while the other reached over to pat her head. "There, there," he snickered, "I won't tell too many people you had a sex dream about Kaiba."

"I didn't have a sex dream!" she protested, her voice muffled by the chair.

"What happened then?" he asked, tickling her side.

Eventually she was forced to give in. Why did she have to be so damn ticklish! "He kissed me," she muttered.

"That much fuss over a kiss? Damn!"

"Johnny, you have no idea how awesome it was. Then you had to wake me up with all that laughter!" She'd stated out calm, but her voice rose to a shriek.

"Settle down!" he said, waiting for her to stop struggling. "If you want to make out with him so bad, just ask him out."

Crystal gave a muffled sigh, "Reason one: he hates me. Reason two: he's too busy for anything of that nature. Reason three: he'd just laugh in my face. Reason four: I'm not even sure if he's straight."

"You think Kaiba's gay?" Johnny asked, shocked.

"All the hottest guys are!"

"I'm not gay!"

She chuckled, "My point exactly."

"That was really mean," he pouted.

"You asked for that one, now let me up. I need chocolate."

Johnny rolled his eyes, but let her. He knew better than to stand between her and chocolate. "I still think you should ask him out," he told her, following her into the kitchen.

"No! It was just a dream anyway. My fantasies are probably better than the real thing anyway. Not that I have them!"

Johnny snickered, "I knew you were smitten with Richie Rich! What, do you like the hard-to-get type, or are you just a masochist?"

Crystal groaned, "I am not smitten! It was just a dream!"

"You seemed pretty upset that I interrupted it."

"Ugh! Go away! I don't want to talk to you!"

He walked over and kissed her temple, "Don't worry. I still love you, no matter how weird your love interests are."

Crystal glared at him as he walked away and tore into a bag of Hersey Kisses. In the back of her mind, she could hear Wingweaver's soft laughter, making her cheeks turn red once again. She popped the chocolate into her mouth, a pout forming on her face. Stupid unconscious desires.

_No! Not desires! They're not desires! Stop laughing at me Wingweaver!_

_

* * *

_

**You have to feel sorry for her.**

**Now, for once, I'm going to say something actually important. I know, I'm surprised at myself. I cannot, for the life of me, decide what exactly a Mary Sue is. I have seen so many definitions, it makes my head spin. So this is my question. Is Crystal a Mary Sue? I tried taking one of those test thingys, and she turned out to be right in the middle. I read the Wikipedia article, and I don't think Crystal sounds anything like it. However, I recently read a piece of fanfiction that contained a character much like Crystal. This character was labled a Mary Sue by one of the reviewers. What is a Mary Sue anyway? Please review and tell me! Imma so confuzzled!**

**Another thing. I am currently in a fight with Dick turpin over which sounds better: motorcycle or motorbike. I want your honest opinion; which do you think sounds better? **


	21. Chapter 21

Crystal stepped out of the shower, pulling the towel around her. She walked over to the mirror and glared at the mess her hair had become, struggling to straighten her part. The conditioner was out, and, as usual, she'd forgotten to get more. Crystal gave a resigned sigh and picked up her brush. Sometimes she wondered if Maximillion's tampering had permanently damaged her memory.

After she finally worked out all the knots in her hair, Crystal pulled on her undergarments. Crystal reached for her T-shirt, but glanced up at the mirror, taking in her appearance. She reached up and ran her fingers along the scar that ran from her right arm, across her chest, and up to the left side of her neck. It was more noticeable now that her skin was tanned by the Egyptian sun. Just one of many scars that ran across her body; one of many she couldn't remember receiving.

Crystal brushed the right side of her neck, where another scar marred her skin. It looked suspiciously like a bite mark. Another cut ran diagonally up the outside of her right arm, starting a few inches below her elbow and reaching up far enough to cross the one that cut across her chest. There were several smaller scars dotting her forearms. She couldn't fathom where they had come from. A lone scar rested above her heart, perhaps the product of a stabbing. Crystal shuddered at the thought. She hadn't had many friends 5000 years ago.

Another stab wound marked the middle of her abdomen, two inches above her navel, and yet another scar ran across her left side. The wound must have been deep, probably done by a sword; she could trace it from half-way to her belly button, all the way to her back at roughly the same place. Of all the mysteries in her past, one thing was certain; she'd had a bloody history.

She looked up at the mirror again in time to see a faint flash of red in her eyes before it faded. The dark spirit locked away in her soul room hadn't spoken to her since the flight to Egypt, although there were times she thought she heard it laughing. Crystal wasn't sure its silence was a good thing. Who knew what the spirit was scheming in the dark recesses of her mind. For that matter, what was it planning to do with the darkness implanted in her already? The darkness that entered her legs had yet to show itself, and she wondered if it had died, unable to sustain itself in her body.

That was not the case with the bruise. She looked down at her arm, watching the shadows flicker and move around the discoloration. The mark was about three inches along the length of her arm, and two across. In some places it swelled out, making the shape look like a large, demented ink blot. It was still smaller than the one she'd had 5000 years ago, when she was so ill she needed crutches to get around. Would the same thing happen to her? Would she be able to have a miraculous recovery like she had in the past? Was this illness even the same thing?

_I'm not sure I want to remember my past,_ Crystal thought doubtfully, _So much of it seems like a living nightmare. _

_It's part of who you are, Crissy,_Wingweaver told her,_ Don't be afraid. Remember, what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger._

Crystal personally thought that saying was a load of crap, but held her mental tongue. _If that's the truth, this tournament should be a piece of cake._

Wingweaver smiled,_ Yes. You'd better hurry up though, Johnny's getting impatient._

Right on cue, her bodyguard pounded on the door. "Hurry up, will you! By the time you're done, Battle City will be over!"

She quickly pulled on her jeans and T-shirt, "Don't get your boxers in a bunch, I'm coming!"

"Call the newspapers," he muttered, his soft footsteps walking away. For such a large person, he could be pretty quiet when he wanted to be.

Crystal finished getting ready and ran out the door. "Let's go! I want to talk to Yugi before Seto's speech."

Johnny stepped out of the kitchen wearing black jeans and a black T-shirt, "I'm ready."

"Got your concealed weapon's permit?"

"Thanks for reminding me," he said, walking into the living room to get it. "Now I'm ready."

Crystal grinned, feeling her excitement bubble over. It had been forever since she'd had the chance to duel someone competent. She was so desperate for a duel, she'd go up against Johnny, despite the fact he couldn't play a Duel Monster's card to save his life. "Try to keep your peppiness to a minimum, Crystal," Johnny told her, "You scare people when you're hyper like this."

She rolled her eyes and grabbed his arm, "Come on! It's going to start soon!"

"Easy! Don't pull my arm off!" he said, smiling indulgently. It was nice seeing that spark back in her eyes. They'd seemed so dull lately.

Crystal dragged him outside and he locked the door behind them.

* * *

"Hey you two!" Crystal called, running up to Tea and Yugi.

Tea grinned at her, "Hey! You're back!"

"Yep!" she said, hugging her. Crystal turned to Yugi, noticing the slight change in his appearance, and her heart stopped in her chest. This was her brother! Her flesh and blood, the only remaining relation she had! Crystal carefully hid her emotions and bowed slightly. "Pharaoh."

Her brother's eyes widened, "How do you know who I am?"

"I met Ishizu over in Egypt and she filled me in. She's been helping me with my past, too."

He nodded, "That's good to hear, but please, call me Yami."

"Alrighty."

"Did you find you're brother?" Yami asked.

"Yes," she smiled brightly, pleased that Ishizu hadn't spilled the beans. Crystal wanted this to be kept a secret for the time being.

"That's great!" Tea said, her eyes sparkling, "You'll have to introduce us some time."

She nodded, "I think you'll like him."

At that time, Johnny ran up, puffing. "Must you... insist on... running everywhere?" he gasped, bracing himself on his knees. "I'm getting to old for this!"

"I was wondering where you went," Crystal smirked.

Johnny glared at her. "You are, without a doubt, the most demonic woman I've ever met."

"You don't get out much, do you?" she asked, winking.

He growled softly before his head drooped and he returned to looking at the ground. Maybe she should take it easy on him for a bit, or even better, ditch him. Then he could get the R&R he needed.

"Hey guys!" shouted a pretty woman running up to them.

"Oh no, it's Mai!" Tea groaned.

"Wasn't she one of the finalists in Duelist Kingdom?" Crystal asked Yami, who nodded.

"I just know you guys missed me," Mai grinned, wrapping an arm around Tea's neck.

"It's a shame we don't hang out more often," Tea said, but her sarcasm was lost on Mai.

"Oooo... You're all dressed up Tea, is this a date?"

Tea blushed brightly, "We're just friends Mai," she protested.

"What are you doing here Mai?" the Pharaoh asked, saving Tea from the teasing that was sure to ensue.

She looked over Tea's head at him, "I'm here for the tournament that's being announced. I assume you're here for the same reason."

He nodded, "Do you know who is throwing this tournament?"

"No my invitation was anonymous, and no one else seems to know either."

"I know, I know!" Crystal grinned.

They all looked at her like she was crazy. "Who is it?" Tea asked, still being half-throttled by Mai.

"I'll give you a hint. He's got a lot of money, and an impressive ego."

"Kaiba?" Yami exclaimed, his eyes widening.

She nodded, "He thought I was still in Egypt, so when I bumped into him on the street-"

"That's taken quite literally. He really did almost run her over," Johnny said, finally recovered.

Crystal whacked him in the arm and turned back to the group she was talking to. "Anyways, when I talked to him today, he told me to stay in Domino so I wouldn't miss what he had to say."

"So that's why Ishizu told me to enter the tournament," Yami muttered, "In order to stop the events of the past from happening again, I must duel Kaiba." Crystal looked at him, wondering what he was talking about. What ancient event was he thinking of? She dismissed it, resolving to talk to Ishizu later and clear up her questions. The only thing that mattered to her right now was that Marik needed to be stopped to keep the world safe. If someone like him controlled the power of the Pharaoh... She shuddered at the thought. It would be the end of life as she knew it.

"What are you mumbling about?" Mai asked Yami, but quickly lost interest and didn't wait for a reply. "I have to say, there are a lot of familiar faces here, some of which I'm not happy to see."

"I know what you mean Mai," Yami said, looking around, "This tournament is starting to look like Duelist Kingdom all over again."

Tea shuddered, "Eugh, you're right. There's Rex Raptor and Weevil Underwood. What creeps!"

"Hey!" Crystal exclaimed, "That's Espa Roba. Apparently, he uses his 'psychic powers' to win duels."

"And there's Mako Tsunami," Tea said, pointing to wear the water duelist was standing.

"There's gonna be one major difference in this tournament though," Mai said, looking up at one of the large TVs set up on numerous buildings, "And there he is now."

On screen, Seto's face appeared, a confident smirk on his face. "Kaiba," Yami muttered.

"Welcome to Domino City, duelists," Seto said as his image took over every screen in Domino, "But more importantly, welcome to my Battle City tournament. All of you received my personal invitations, and you had the brains to show up."

The assembled duelist were talking animatedly, babbling to their neighbors. Mai was no exception. "I wonder what's bigger; his melon on the big screen or his ego."

"All of you are elite duelists," Seto continued, "So I have some special rules just for experts. First of all, everyone will use my new Duel Disk system, eliminating the need for over-sized dueling arenas." There was an appreciative babble from the crowd as he showed them the latest in dueling technology. Crystal wondered if he'd have any left over; she was dying to take one apart to see how it worked. "Next, in every duel you will put your rarest card on the line. If you lose the duel, that card goes to your opponent."

Yami's eyes widened, "Forfeit my Dark Magician!"

"That's not fair," Mai protested, "Just one loss could ruin my deck!"

Crystal didn't like that rule either. Her rarest card was Wingweaver, and losing that would be devastating. It was one-of-a-kind, hand-painted by Maximillion, and depicted her closest friend. It may not fit in with her deck style, but it was one of the strongest cards in Duel Monsters, even stronger than the Dark Magician. She couldn't bare losing it.

_Then you'll have to win, won't you?_Wingweaver grinned

_Easier said than done. The duelists here are seriously tough. It's going to be a challenge._

_I believe in you Crissy. I may not be good at Duel Monsters, but I know you are._

She smiled at Wingweaver's assurance, relaxing again. Who needed a card, when she had the real Wingweaver inside her head?

Crystal looked up at the sound of helicopter blades, and saw it was Seto, looking down on everyone, as usual. The wind stirred the air, making her hair whip around her head as she craned her head back to see him.

_Wow, when did he get that outfit?_

Wingweaver snickered, but said nothing, leaving her to gape unopposed.

"Don't forget to register and pick up your Duel Disk, because one week from today, Battle City will begin!"

A whole week! Did he really expect her to wait a whole week for a duel! Crystal looked from Seto to Yami and saw they were having a heavily charged "rivals stare" again. Jeez, the way they acted, you'd think Yugi killed Mokuba!

"A whole week of waiting! Do you think you'll last, flutterbug?" Johnny asked, teasing her.

She stuck her tongue out at him, "I'm not that impatient," she said dryly.

Her gaze returned to the helicopter, watching as it turned to fly away. Just a week; it shouldn't be to hard...

_Who am I kidding, I won't last a day!_

* * *

Crystal bolted upright in bed, hearing a cry echo through the house. "Johnny?" she yelled, jumping out of bed and running to his room. Crystal swung the door open and watched her strong bodyguard thrash around on his bed.

"No!" he cried, jerking around, "No! Anita, come back!"

_Anita_. Crystal's heart twisted in sorrow as she ran over to his bedside, carefully avoiding Johnny's flailing arms. She reached over and grabbed his shoulders, shaking them. "Johnny! Johnny wake up!"

"Anita! Please don't go!" he shouted, almost hitting her with one of his arms.

"Johnny!" Crystal yelled, louder this time.

His eyes opened and looked up at her, full of grief, before they closed, tears leaking down his cheeks. "Anita," he whispered, silent sobs running through his body.

Crystal sat on the bed and placed his head on her lap, wordlessly stroking his hair. What could she say that could heal such a deep hurt? Anita was his fiance and five years ago she'd been hit by a drunk driver. Her condition slowly deteriorated until the day she died in his arms. It had been so long since he'd had another nightmare, she'd hoped they were over. She should have known better.

Crystal looked at Johnny's strong body, now curled up like a small child's. His body shook softly as another round of sobs wracked him. "Shh..." she murmured, rubbing his shoulder gently.

Slowly Johnny quieted and eventually lay still, "Sorry about that," he said, his voice hoarse.

"Oh, Johnny," Crystal sighed, kissing his temple, "You don't have anything to be sorry about."

He sat up and looked at her with red-rimmed eyes. "You remind me of her. Just as kind, just as beautiful," he paused and a small smile pulled at his lips, "just as crazy."

Crystal smiled back, her eyes soft. "Thank you," she whispered, resting her head on his shoulder, "I wish I could have met her."

"You would have been great friends," Johnny said.

They stayed that way for a long while, just sitting next to each other, before she broke the silence. "Come on," Crystal told him, standing, "You need to go back to sleep."

He didn't protest, lying down obediently and letting her cover him with blankets. In mere moments he was fast asleep. Crystal shook her head, smiling. She never did understand how he could fall asleep so quickly.

As she turned away, she heard Johnny speak in his sleep. "Anita." Crystal turned around, ready to wake him up again, but paused when she saw the serene expression on his face. "Anita, will you marry me?" he murmured.

Crystal smiled and walked out the door, closing it softly behind her.

* * *

**Author's Note: Sorry if the middle seemed forced, everybody. I had a bit of writer's block at that part, but eventually it came, kicking and screaming, through my fingers and onto the screen. I didn't get much feedback on what sounds better: motorcycle or motorbike, so I'm rather disappointed.**

**Another thing, school is steadily approaching, so I won't be able to update as often as I have been. Also, I won't be able to stay up into the wee hours of the night to write. There is also a chance my computer time will be limited to an hour. It will be miserable. At least I still have weekends to type, right? **

**As always, pretty please review!**


	22. Chapter 22

**Ack! So much filler! Because of this, I'm going to make a cliffy! Bwahahahahahachubaka... ha!**

* * *

Crystal was sitting at home, fitting the Duel Disk she'd got just minutes ago onto her arm, wincing as it rubbed against her bruise. She took it off and gently massaged the edges of the dark skin, calming the darkness so it would stop banging against her pain receptors. "Johnny, could you get the first-aid kit for me?" Crystal called, knowing he was somewhere in the house. She was going to wrap the gauze around her arm, hoping it wouldn't chafe so much on her skin. It would be nice to cushion it a bit, too.

"Are you hurt?" he asked running into the living room. His eyes were wide with worry as they searched for some life-threatening injury.

"No, I just need the gauze," she assured him.

There was profound relief on his face. "That's good," he said, leaving for the kitchen where they kept it under the sink.

Crystal shook her head, a soft chuckle escaping her lips. She deserved that over-reaction; asking for the first-aid kit would have prompted even Seto to worry. Nah, that was a bit of a stretch. Crystal couldn't imagine Seto being anything but the cold, distant CEO he was. There were a few times on Duelist Kingdom she saw a warmth in his eyes, but it never did last long. She sighed slightly, remembering how his long fingers had brushed against her neck, how she could faintly feel his breath...

Crystal pinched herself, dispelling the memory. It wouldn't do to have those thoughts running through her head, especially with her best friend listening and her childish bodyguard hearing what she said when she dreamed. Thankfully, her dreams last night remained both Seto and motorcycle free. She considered again what Johnny had said about asking him out. Crystal dismissed that thought too, knowing she was far too cowardly to ask. Not only that, she was worried about hurting him. If her illness got worse, he'd have to watch her slowly slip away, just as Johnny watched his fiancé wither. After seeing what Anita's deterioration had done to him, Crystal didn't want Seto to feel that same worry, no matter how mild it would be compared to Johnny's heartache.

Wingweaver's disagreement was clear through their link. _That's no excuse Crystal, and you know it._

_Do I?_

_Yes you do!_ her friend projected herself onto the couch next to her, her golden eyes bright with determination, _We will get this darkness out of you. The only thing standing between you and Seto Kaiba is your own cowardice!_

She glared at her_, What do you propose, then? I just walk up to him say, "Will you go out with me?"_

__

That's what you're supposed to do.

Crystal crossed her arms and turned her glare to the floor. _It doesn't change the fact that he'll say no._

__

You'll never know unless you try.

Yes I do! Now go away! I don't remember asking for your opinion!

Wingweaver stood a rare expression of anger on her face. _As your best friend Crystal, I am ordering you to ask Kaiba out._

The moment she said it, she knew it was a mistake. If there was one thing Wingweaver knew about her young charge, it was that she was stubborn. Crazily stubborn. Crystal's eyes widened slightly, before narrowing into cold slits. _No. I will not. You can't make me if I don't want to. _

_Crystal, I am sick of listening to your thoughts about this! It's a whirlwind of ifs and buts, contradicting each other as they swirl around your head! It's driving me nuts!_

"Then stop listening!"

Johnny paused in the doorway, before putting the first-aid kit on the couch and tip-toeing away. This was one fight Crystal would have to solve on her own. She must be upset if she was yelling out loud.

"Oh, I'm sorry if my thoughts are so damn loud! I didn't know my mind had volume control!"

He snuck into the kitchen and grabbed a bag of Cheetos. Crystal had quite a set of lungs on her; this could go on a long time.

"So I'm acting like a child now! Well, excuse me! Not all of us can be ancient spirits possessing other peoples bodies!" There was a short pause before Crystal answered Wingweaver, "Yes, I'm calling you old!" Another pause, "That's right, you do look like me! Plus a few million years!"

Johnny shut his bedroom door and locked it, but the shouting still drifted through. This could be a golden opportunity though. He glanced around to make sure no one was watching, reached a hand under his bed and pulled out a DVD. Not just any DVD though. He slipped _Titanic _into the DVD player and skipped to the ending, watching the majestic, unsinkable ship sink. If Crystal ever knew he like this movie, he'd never hear the end of it.

"Why can't you just leave me alone?" A pause, "Fine go ahead! See if I care!"

Wow! That resolved pretty quickly. He turned down the volume in case Crystal came up there.

Downstairs, Crystal probed the corners of her mind and realized Wingweaver was true to her word. She'd closed her soul room door, and not a single thought leaked out. It was the first time she'd been alone in her head for a long time, and she decided to spend it as wisely as possible. Crystal noticed the first-aid kit lying on the couch, but decided to get the gauze later. Today was a day for being outside. She sat down and tapped her heels together, the roller blades popping out and clicking into place. "Johnny, I'm going out!" she called, gliding towards the door.

"OK, be safe!" he replied, his voice sounding a little choked.

"Are you alright?" Crystal asked, pausing in front of the stairs.

"Uh... Yeah! I just... Umm... swallowed a Cheeto the wrong way!" he said.

She gave a skeptical look up the flight of stairs, but let it go. "Alright, I'll try and be back by six!"

"OK!" Johnny called, his voice cracking.

Crystal smiled and shook her head. What a strange man! "Bye!" she called, skating out the door.

When he heard the door close, Johnny's eyes watered, "Bu-Bu-Bye!" he sobbed, watching the screen through his fingers, "P-Poor J-J-Jack and R-Rose! The-They g-g-g..." Johnny stumbled over the words, finally giving up, content to just blubber and watch the movie's ending.

* * *

Crystal glided down the sidewalk, making for the park. Her bad mood quickly evaporated in the warm afternoon sunshine. The park was full of people, mostly duelist drawn here by the tournament. There was one place she knew that usually remained people free, and she bladed her way there, expertly dodging the people blocking the asphalt trail meandering through the park. She slowed to a stop when she reached a certain point on the trail and retracted her skates, before walking up a small hill. Crystal slipped between the trailing leaves of a weeping willow and smiled at the little haven in the middle of the park. Four benches were arranged around the clearing and in the center a small, but beautiful fountain bubbled water.

She walked closer to the center and lay down on the soft grass, looking up at the sky. The weeping willows around the clearing blocked the sun, making the clearing cooler than the anywhere else. It was the perfect temperature. Crystal felt her eyelids flutter closed as she was lulled to sleep by the rustling of leaves and the soft trickle of the fountain.

* * *

__

It was raining. The water fell lightly on the sand-colored house she was laying on and dripped on her face, sliding down her cheeks. She was younger now, three years old. Crystal turned her head and saw a boy about a year older than her (as he always pointed out) watching the sky too. He had short brown hair, a few shades lighter than most Egyptians, and bright green eyes, a rare color for the desert. The part of her that knew this was only a memory pointed out that he looked like a younger version of Johnny. "Hey Chigaru?" she said.

"Hmm?" he asked, looking over at her.

"Why do you think the sky rumbles when it rains?"

Chigaru thought for a moment, "I think it's Ra yelling at someone for making the sky leak."

Crystal looked back up at the sky, blinking when a raindrop hit the corner of her eye. "Father said it rumbles because it's in pain, like a woman in labor. It hurts to give something so precious."

He smiled, "Why did you ask me then?"

"Father can't be right all the time," she said, smiling back.

Chigaru's eyes widened, "But... he's the Pharaoh!"

"Yes, but he acts human. Why can't he be wrong like a human as well?"

Her friend rolled his eyes and looked back up at the cloudy sky. "You talk too wisely for someone your age."

Crystal grinned and looked back at the sky again. A few minutes later she spoke again, "Hey Chig?"

"What is it Crissy?"

"How do you think the water gets up in the sky?"

Chigaru looked at her, "What do you think?"

Her eyebrows knitted together in concentration before her face cleared, "I think the gods are crying, because we can't see Ra. All those clouds get in the way."

He nodded, "That could be..."

"What do you think?"

"You know how you can't see the Nile once it reaches the horizon?" Chig asked.

"Yes."

"Well, I think that once it reaches the horizon it goes up into the sky and that's why the sky's blue. And sometimes the Sky Nile gets a bunch of leaks and that's what the rain is."

Crystal looked at him, raising an eyebrow. "So you're saying that the Nile's water turns invisible goes up into the sky, then comes back down as rain?"

He nodded, and Crystal giggled, "Chig, you've said a lot of strange things, but that one is the oddest yet."

Chigaru shrugged and closed his eyes, facing the sky. "Anything's possible."

Crystal sat up and smiled at her best friend, "You silly camel," she said, her eyes soft.

Despite himself, Chigaru smiled, "Why do you call me that, anyway?" he asked, opening one eye.

"Because you're big and dense, but I love you anyway."

He laughed at her reasoning, reaching over to ruffle her hair. "You're not so bad yourself, flutterbug."

She grabbed his hand and pulled it off, her head tilting to the side slightly, "Why do you call me flutterbug, Chig?"

"Because you're tiny, cute and you're such a flighty thing. Always wanting to fly away on a grand adventure."

Crystal grinned, leaning over to kiss his forehead. He opened his eyes and smiled at her before sitting up. "Come on, we'd better get you home before you get ill."

"Aww! Just a little longer!" she whined.

Chig shook his head, "The Pharaoh told me to keep you safe, and that includes making sure you don't get sick."

_Crystal pouted, but followed him, climbing down the side of the house and into the muddy streets. Her cloak was laden with rainwater, and weighed down heavily on her tiny body. "Here, I'll take that for you, Crissy," Johnny said, helping her take it off before draping it over his arm._

_"Thanks," she said, hunching her shoulders and folding her arms, trying to warm herself. Her thin dress wasn't providing much warmth. Chig was right, she was going to get ill if she stayed out much longer. Chigaru wrapped an arm around her, trying to warm her up a bit, but he was just as cold._

_Just as they were walking past a crossroad, a figure emerged from the shadows and drew a knife. Before either of them could react, the figure slashed Chigaru's chest, cutting through his tunic to the skin underneath. Chigaru screamed and fell back, clutching the wound, his eyes wide. "Crystal!" he screamed, "Crystal run!"_

_A gnarled hand clamped down on her shoulder and she looked up at the cloaked man. His face was still covered in shadow. Crystal's lips parted in surprise and fear. Her lungs constricted, turning her breathing into soft pants. She saw the knife, already red with Chigaru's blood prepare to enter her body, the grey blade reflecting the cloudy sky. The figure thrust the blade forward and it easily slid into her middle, cutting through flesh as easily as butter. Her eyes widened a moment before squeezing shut as she cried out in agony. Her hands gripped the handle of the knife, her fingers crossing his as she struggled to pull it out._

_The man tugged the blade out of her body, making a few fine slices in her hands as it did. Crystal fell backwards and lay there, gasping for breath. It was so hard to breathe! The air kept sticking in her throat, reluctant to keep her alive. Her hands clutched the wound instinctively as she struggled to keep her blood inside her body. "Crystal!" Chig yelled, crawling over to her, one hand still pressed to his chest._

_"What's going on over there?" someone called down the street._

_"Help us!" Chigaru screamed, before turning back to Crystal, placing his hands over hers in an attempt to stop her bleeding._

_Crystal felt a shift, and realized this was no longer a memory, but a nightmare. The cloaked figure should have run away when he heard other people coming, but he didn't. The figure reached up and pulled back the hood, making Crystal's eyes widen. It was the dark spirit. She chuckled at Crystal's shocked expression and reached into the folds of her cloak, drawing out a sword._

_"You're gonna be alright, Crissy, I promise." Chigaru said, oblivious to what was happening behind him._

_"Chig, you have to run!"_

_"No."_

_The spirit was laughing as it raised the sword, "Chig! Run!" Crystal screamed, knowing he wouldn't listen._

_The sword came down, a brilliant flash of death._

* * *

"No!" Crystal cried, jerking up from her sleep. Cold laughter echoed from behind the spirit's door, making her shudder even harder. Now she knew how she got that scar on her stomach. Chigaru... Johnny... They'd looked so similar! They even had the same nickname for her! Was it possible Johnny was the reincarnated version of Chigaru?

Crystal shakily got to her feet and stumbled over to the fountain. She dipped her fingers in the water, wishing for the soothing warmth she felt in Wingweaver's soul room. There was no hope or peace here though. Just cold water with a thin layer of scum on top.

Speaking of Wingweaver, she searched the edges of her mind and saw that her friend was still shut up in her soul room. Being millions of years old, Wingweaver was very patient. She wouldn't come out until Crystal asked her. _And she thinks I'm stubborn! _Crystal thought.

She sighed and glanced at her watch, wincing when she saw she was an hour late. Johnny was probably worried sick about her. Crystal sat on the fountain ledge and hit the buttons that opened the roller blades, calling Johnny on her cell before wheeling away.

He picked up on the first ring. "Hey! Where are you?"

"Sorry, I'm late. I fell asleep in the park."

A soft sigh of relief crackled over the phone-line. "It's fine. Hurry back though, your supper's getting cold."

Crystal almost fell over when she heard this. "You... cooked?" she asked hesitantly.

"Hell no! I can't even make a salad! I ordered pizza."

Crystal smiled and relaxed, "'Kay, I'm on my way. Bye."

She hung up and slid the phone back into her pocket. Crystal bladed out of the part and onto the sidewalk, heading for home. The streets were surprisingly empty. It was only seven o'clock, there should have been more people out. She shrugged it off and picked up speed, eager to get home. Crystal didn't see the metal baseball bat until it struck her head, quickly sending her into unconsciousness.

* * *

**Author's Note: Told ya I'd make a cliffy! :) School starts on Tuesday, so I might be a while typing the next chapter. Review peas and carrots!**


	23. Chapter 23

**Woohoo! I updated! Amazin' aint it?**

* * *

"Are you sure you don't want to drive, sir?" Roland asked.

Seto sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, "I'm positive."

"With all due respect sir, you need the practice."

He gritted his teeth and leaned back against the limo's leather seats. Roland had been nagging him to drive ever since they'd left the party. Three hours of making polite conversation with people he couldn't stand. Seto scowled, remembering the comments those idiots had made. His evening had been stressful enough without running over a cat. Or a person.

"My word! What's going on over there?"

Seto looked out the window and his eyes widened in shock. Up the street, Crystal was lying on the sidewalk, unconscious, and two men were looming over her, digging into her pockets. A metal bat was lying next to them. "Stop the car!" he yelled at Roland, unfastening his seat-belt and jumping out of the limo. "Hey!" he shouted as he ran towards them, "Get away from her!"

The two men glanced up, then straightened from their crouches. One of the muggers nudged the other, "Get a load of this!" he snickered, gesturing at Seto. Crystal's necklace was dangling from his fingers. "Looks like we're gonna be sued!"

"Better get back in the limo, pretty boy," the other grinned, "Wouldn't want to tear up that suit!"

The second's boisterous laughter turned into a wheeze when Seto punched him in the gut.

The mugger staggered against the brick wall while his companion made a wild swing at Seto's head. The young CEO blocked it and punched him in the face, giving the mugger a bloody nose. The man recovered after a moment and charged him, his face twisted in anger. Seto grabbed his shoulders to stop the mad rush and the mugger's force slammed Seto's back against the unforgiving wall. He managed to push the mugger away before the man could get a grip on his neck. Seto rolled his shoulders, wincing a little when the bruised muscle moved.

At that moment, the other mugger, sufficiently recovered, wrapped his thick, hairy arms around Seto from behind, restraining him. The first, blood still pouring from his nose, punched Seto in the jaw, making stars flicker across his vision.

When his sight cleared, he saw that the mugger had reached into his jacket and pulled out a small switch blade. He pressed the button and the dull gray blade flicked out, ready to perform the job it was meant for. The man restraining Seto tightened his grip when his captive struggled harder than ever to free himself.

There was no time for that though. The knife wielding man lunged at Seto, a snarling smirk on his face.

Seto lifted his leg and kicked the mugger solidly in the abdomen. He staggered backwards and tripped over Crystal's prone body, landing heavily on the sidewalk.

His companion loosened his grip in surprise and Seto elbowed him in the gut, causing the man to lose his hold completely. Seto's arm swung around and connected with the mugger's temple, knocking him into the wall and unconsciousness.

Without his buddy to back him up, the man who'd tripped over Crystal took off down the alley, loudly cursing Seto, God, and his luck. Seto knelt next to the remaining mugger, who was still dead to the world (and would be for a couple of hours), and searched him; finding only a knife and a sleek black phone that was well out off the man's price range. No doubt it belonged to Crystal.

Speaking of which... Seto turned his attentions to her. He brushed the hair out of her face and gasped in horror, something he thought he'd never do. It looked like her head had been bashed in. A deep depression marred her forehead, and the blood ran into her hair, drying into thick, dark red clumps. Seto looked away and noticed the metal baseball bat again, smeared red at the top. His lip curled into a snarl and he wished he'd had the chance to give those men exactly what they deserved. Seto's eyes wandered to where one of the men was still slumped against the wall. There was no reason he couldn't get some revenge now. And the mugger had supplied a perfectly good knife...

It took a surprising amount of effort to push those thoughts from his mind. Crystal was the priority here, and there was no doubt that she needed to be taken to a hospital right away. Seto pocketed her cell phone and the heart-shaped necklace that had fallen on the sidewalk. The delicate chain was broken from when it had been yanked from her neck. He'd have to get it fixed for her...

Seto slipped his arms underneath Crystal's limp form and picked her up, carrying her to the limo.

Inside, Roland was fidgeting nervously, "Are you alright, sir?"

"Yes, no thanks to you," Seto said bitterly. Roland wouldn't have been much help, but Seto couldn't help feeling angry. "Crystal needs medical care, though. Get us to the hospital as fast as possible."

"Yes, sir," Roland said, pulling the limo away from the curb. Seto placed Crystal's head in his lap pulling her long black hair away from the wound. The strands were sticky with blood.

It might have been his imagination, but Crystal looked better than she had before. The dent wasn't as deep and the blood wasn't flowing like it had been. He leaned closer and saw that the wound seemed to be shimmering slightly. Seto gently brushed his hand against her forehead and the throbbing pain in his jaw faded slightly.

_How strange..._

Seto shook himself and pulled Crystal's phone from his pocket. It was only right to contact her bodyguard so he knew where she was. Not only that, he wanted to give the man a piece of his mind. Where had he been when all this was happening?

The phone's display picture was of Crystal and her bodyguard (Jordan? Jacob? Something like that). Crystal's eyes were crossed and a goofy grin stretched across her face. Seto's mouth twitched, but his lips quickly turned down into a frown again. He searched through her small contact list and found one "Johnny Mason", the only name starting with a "J" in her phone.

Her bodyguard picked up on the first ring. "Hey, Crystal! You'd better hurry up, pizza's getting cold!"

"Are you Crystal's bodyguard?" Seto asked, his eyes narrowed a bit from the cheery greeting. He should have been with Crystal, not lazing about!

There was silence on the other end as Johnny recognized his voice. "Kaiba?" he asked in disbelief, "Where's Crystal?"

"She's been attacked by muggers, but I took care of it. I'm taking her to the hospital as we speak."

More silence on the other end. "Bring her home first," Johnny said at last.

Seto's eyes widened, then narrowed into slits, "She'd in a pretty bad way..."

"But not as bad as she was at first," he interrupted. Seto was stunned, and looked at Crystal's forehead again. Her injury had faded to a slight indentation and the bleeding had completely stopped. "Am I right?" Johnny asked when Seto didn't reply.

"Where do you live?" Seto asked grudgingly.

"5641 Blossom Street."

He relayed the address to Roland, and the driver glanced up in the rear-view mirror. "Not the hospital, sir?"

"It turns out she doesn't need it," Seto said, but his voice was still doubtful. Into the phone he said, "We'll be there in a few minutes."

"Alright. Be quick." The connection went dead.

* * *

Johnny was standing on the sidewalk, waiting for them when they pulled onto the street. They pulled to a stop and Seto got out, carefully picking Crystal up and carrying her up to the house. The bodyguard opened the door and led them to the living room. "Put her on the couch," Johnny said softly. Seto did, resting her head on a pillow that was quickly stained with the blood left in her hair.

The two men were silent for a long time, watching Crystal rest after her assault. "Umm..." Johnny said, glancing over at Seto, "Thanks for saving her, Kaiba. She means a lot to me."

The young CEO grunted and didn't look at him, glaring straight ahead where Crystal slept. "How did she heal like that?" he demanded.

"She's a special girl," Johnny said, but there was an uncomfortable note in his voice suggesting he wasn't used to it either.

"Special," Seto repeated, looking over at him, "I'm well aware of that, but it doesn't explain how she could just heal herself! I thought she was dead at first, that's how badly she was hurt."

"Look, I don't have all the information either," Johnny growled, "Just be happy she didn't need to go to the hospital."

The two glared at each other for a moment before turning back to Crystal. About a minute later, she stirred and her eyes cracked open, quickly shutting again. "Ugh... why is it so bright?" she murmured.

"Crystal!" Johnny grinned, his voice full of relief as he knelt next to her, "You scared me!"

"Stop yelling..." she muttered, turning over so one ear was pressed into the cushions and one of her hands wandered up to cover the other, "Oh, Gods, does my head hurt!"

Johnny smiled a bit and stood. "I'll get you some aspirin," he said, touching her head gently before leaving.

When he was gone, Seto walked closer and looked down at her. "Headache, huh?"

"Yeah," she whispered, curling into a little ball. Seto was overwhelmed by the tide of emotions that swept over him from seeing her like this. Pity, sorrow, and a lot of anger towards the ones who'd hurt her. Beneath his indifferent mask, his features were contorting in rage as he thought of them rifling through her pockets, looming over her, touching her! His hands clenched into fists and his lip curled into a snarl. The only person he'd ever felt this protective of was Mokuba!

Crystal's soft groan interrupted his thoughts. "How'd I get here, Seto?"

"You were attacked, so I brought you here," he said, knowing she'd try to pester him for details.

"Wha-?" she started, her eyelids opening, but she winced and her blue-gold orbs were hidden again. "Seto, could you please turn off the light?"

Seto did as she asked and walked back over to the couch, using the hallway light as a guide. "Thanks..." she sighed, turning her head over to look at him.

He nodded and sat next to her. After a moment Seto hesitantly reached out and stroked her forehead.

She sighed softly and her eyes closed, "That feels really nice Seto..."

Encouraged by this, he continued, brushing over her injury that was now completely healed, down her temples, and back up to brush against her closed eyelids. Crystal smiled softly and relaxed, her brow smoothing out as she forgot the pain.

"I'm back," Johnny whispered, walking in with a small bottle in his hand and a glass of water in the other. Seto jerked back in surprise and Crystal glanced up at him, a small pout on her lips.

"Good," Seto said, standing up and straightening his suit, "I need to get going." He pulled out her cell phone and set it on the table before taking out her necklace and letting it dangle from his long fingers. "The chain on this was broken, so I'll get it fixed for you."

"That's not necessary," Crystal said, looking up at him and wincing as it increased her headache.

"Don't worry about it," he said, reaching down and brushing her forehead one last time, "I'll have it finished by the time the tournament starts up in six days."

Crystal groaned, "Six days! I can't wait that long to play Duel Monsters again! I don't suppose you could move it up?"

Seto smirked slightly before glancing up at Johnny where it promptly faded. "Keep an eye on her, will you? That _is_ you job, isn't it?"

Johnny glared at him and slowly nodded.

"Why does every man in this world have to have a heavily charged, emotional glare with someone?" Crystal scowled, grabbing the aspirin bottle from Johnny's hand. She turned the cap a few times and then her glare deepened. "Damn child-proof locks!" she hissed, finally loosening the top. Crystal popped two of them into her mouth and accepted the glass Johnny offered her, swallowing the pills.

She set the empty glass and the pill bottle on the coffee table and lay back down. "Oh no you don't! You're taking a shower and sleeping in your bed," Johnny said.

"No. Too comfy," she said curling up into a tighter ball.

Johnny sighed and picked her up, cradling her in his arms. "You are such a little princess!"

"I know," she sighed, snuggling into his chest.

The bodyguard smiled down at her before glaring up at Seto. "I trust you can see yourself out, Kaiba," Johnny said, and Seto nodded, returning the glare.

"Be nice," Crystal muttered.

Seto glanced down at her then back at Johnny, "Have a good evening Mr. Mason."

"Likewise Kai... _Mr_. Kaiba."

Crystal smiled at their efforts to be civil as she felt herself being carried away. "Night Seto! Pleasant dreams!"

Seto watched the two go upstairs and looked down at his hand where Crystal's necklace still dangled. He held the little heart in his hand and rubbed its worn surface, just as Crystal had done countless times before. "Goodnight to you too, Crystal," he whispered, and walked out the door, locking it behind him.

* * *

**Author's Note: I am _so_ sorry for taking so long! I've been banished from the computer during the weekdays and have been so overloaded with homework I've never had the chance to finish up this chapter. I got stuck dangling in the middle for a solid month, which did nothing for my writer's block. But enough excuses, I know you don't want to hear them. **

**The next chapter will probably take even LONGER because I'm gonna take part in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) which, as the name suggests, lasts a month and involves writing. It's probably gonna occupy every spare second of my life for all of November, so don't expect much from me. I might finish up a humor fic I've been working on before November, but no promises.**

_**Blue is the sky,  
Green is the grass,  
Review my fanfic  
or I'll kick you in the nads!**_

**wordsfreak1995: Ass would have worked better.**

**I don't care!**


	24. Chapter 24

Crystal was sitting at the dining room table, drumming her fingers on the polished wood. The Duel Disk was situated on her arm, and beneath it a layer of gauze cushioned her dark bruise. Every ten seconds or so she looked at the device, and every time she did, her impatience rose another notch. Through some miracle, she'd managed to wait six days for the tournament to start without destroying anything. It had helped that Wingweaver broke her silence when she realized her charge had been attacked. Talking to her had taken her mind off of the upcoming Duel Monster's tournament. Conversation had helped then, but now Battle City was beginning and Johnny was still putsing around in his bedroom getting ready. "Johnny!" she whined, "Hurry up!"

"Give me a break!" his muffled voice came from upstairs, "I can't find my gun!"

"Did you check under your bed?" she called.

There was a short pause before he replied, "Yes."

"What about in the laundry basket?"

"It's not in there either!" he yelled, frustration leaking into his voice.

Crystal rolled her eyes and sighed, "I'm coming up, Johnny!"

"No!" he called back, "I can handle it. Have you taken your vitamins?"

"Aww, come on!" Crystal complained, "They taste like artificially sweetened crap!"

"I don't want you getting sick," he said, sticking his head down the stairs, "You didn't want the pill ones."

She glared up at him, "I wanted you to get the gummies!"

"You're too old for those Crissy," he said, resuming his search for the missing firearm.

"Says you!" she growled and stalked back into the kitchen. Crystal got a glass from the cupboard and walked over to the refrigerator to get some juice. She was going to need something to rinse that horrible taste from her mouth! The pitcher in hand, she walked away, but froze and turned back, realizing something was amiss. She set the cup and pitcher down and opened the refrigerator door again, staring at the object resting between the leftover spaghetti and the Cool Whip. A small smile on her lips, she picked up the offending item and called up the stairs. "Johnny!"

"I know, I know, I'm hurrying!" he called.

"I found your gun!"

Upstairs, the pounding of feet ran across the landing and down the stairs, and towards the end of his dash, there was a loud thump. Johnny ran in, rubbing his hip and grinning at the firearm Crystal held. "Where did you find it?" he asked, taking it from her as gently as if it were a baby.

"In the 'fridge."

"Oh," Johnny said, looking embarrassed, "I-I forgot about that."

If she wasn't in such a hurry, Crystal would have spent a good half-hour needling Johnny on the incident. But, sadly, there was no time for that. "Come on!" she said, pulling on his sleeve. "It's gonna start any minute!"

"Yeah, just a bit, I need to find my holster."

_If he doesn't know where it is, he's not gonna need a holster,_ she thought, glaring at him as he ran into the living room, _I'll shove that gun right up his-_

"Got it!" he called, saving Johnny from a very painful situation, "We're off!"

Crystal ran out the door and the fresh air relaxed her tense muscles. Despite how long Johnny had taken to get ready, Seto still hadn't started the tournament. Crystal thanked her lucky stars and hopped in her car, a blue-green KIA Forte, starting the engine. As it purred to life, Johnny got in next to her and buckled his seat belt, reminding her to do the same. "Onward and upward," he said, leaning back against his seat.

As soon as they were settled, Crystal slammed the gas pedal and they screeched down the street. "Holy hell Crystal, slow down!" Johnny protested.

"If you'd been faster, I wouldn't need to speed," Crystal growled, slowing down slightly.

Johnny glared at her, but didn't complain again. At least she was closer to the speed limit than before.

* * *

Crystal slipped through the crowd, unnoticed by all the people craning their necks back to look at Seto's face broadcast on the side of the Kaiba Corp. blimp. Crystal had already been given all the tournament rules by Ishizu and didn't need to hear the announcement. She was surprised that she had gotten away from Johnny so easily. He was still staring up at the blimp, completely absorbed. She couldn't help feeling bad about sneaking away from Johnny, but it couldn't be helped. If she was going to have any chance of stopping Marik, she couldn't have Johnny's with her. He'd never let her put herself in danger like that.

Crystal slipped down an alleyway and gave a small sigh of relief. The bright sunlight made her bruised arm ache. After several minutes walking the dark sidestreets, Crystal had the distinct feeling that she was being followed. She paused a moment, and when she did, a footstep echoed down the alley. Crystal whirled around, but saw nothing. She wasn't fooled by her follower's sudden disappearance though. Putting on a facade, Crystal smiled and shook her head, a 'silly me' expression on her face.

She reached into her pocket and pulled out the tracking device she'd taken from her Duel Disk. Crystal always felt nervous when people knew where she was, probably some past experience that left her permanently paranoid. She left the tracker on a stack of boxes. Crystal was sure anyone looking at her readings would get worried about the tracker lying still in an alley, but maybe it would teach Seto not to keep tabs on people without their consent. She doubted many of the duelists even knew about the device; she'd only chanced upon it when she opened up the Duel Disk.

Crystal heard a faint sound down the alley, but resisted the urge to look at what made the sound. It would be best if her stalkers didn't know she knew they were there.

When she continued walking, she did so as quietly as possible and, if she listened carefully, she could hear the sound of footsteps following her. Crystal walked through the maze of streets for a few more minutes until she reached the docks. The place seemed pretty deserted, so it was an ideal place to confront her stalkers. Crystal turned a corner and saw a large stack of long wooden dowels. She picked up one and snapped it in half against her knee, making two good staffs with sharper ends that could easily poke someone's eye out. Crystal waited at the corner for a short time when a black hooded head pocked out from the other side. Crystal quickly whacked it with one of her staffs and the man went down like a sack of bricks. Two other men ran out from the other side of the warehouse and stared at their fallen comrade.

"Who are you?" Crystal demanded, pointing her staffs at them in a karate-like position.

They pulled back their hoods and glared at her, "We are the Rare Hunters, and we've come for your Wingweaver."

"Oh really," Crystal smiled, a dangerous note in her voice, "And what makes you think I'm going to hand it over to you?"

"You won't have any choice once we defeat you in a duel," one of them hissed.

"You're entered in Battle City?" she asked skeptically. They both nodded. "Hmm... In that case, when I win, I'll be taking your Locator Cards."

"Agreed."

Crystal smirked, "Why don't we make this interesting? I'll duel both of you at the same time."

"That's fine with us," one grinned confidently, "We'll beat you twice as fast!"

_Don't bet on it_, she thought. Crystal and the two Rare Hunters walked to the middle of the lane between the warehouses and shot out their hologram projectors. Crystal pulled her first cards and allowed herself a cocky grin. This wouldn't take long at all.

* * *

Johnny rubbed his sore neck and glanced to his left where Crystal had been standing. He blinked a few times to make sure his eyes weren't deceiving him and looked to his other side. She wasn't there either. "Shit!" he swore, looking around him. His charge was nowhere to be seen. So, for the next half-hour, Johnny ran through the streets of Domino, searching for Crystal and asking everyone he met if they'd seen 5'4 girl with long black, wavy hair and blue eyes with flecks of gold in them. His description of her became less flattering every time he asked.

He finally paused and leaned against a building to catch his breath. Johnny ran a hand through his hair and sighed. Did Crystal delight in making him worry?

"You lost her already?" came the amused, over-confident voice that made Johnny scowl even more. He looked up and saw Kaiba and his little brother standing in front of him.

Johnny glared at Kaiba, "Go away. I'm not in the mood for your ego."

Kaiba gave a half-chuckle, "How hard can it be to keep Crystal out of trouble?"

"Have you ever tried it?" Johnny groaned, "She is the most danger prone person I've ever met! Not only that, she insists on running straight into danger alone!"

The irate bodyguard scowled deeper when Kaiba rolled his eyes, "Didn't you have training protecting people? Or does Pegasus just hire the biggest guys he can find off the street?"

Johnny quickly swallowed his anger before he did something he might regret later. "Kaiba," he growled, "Unless you have something important to say, I need to go and find Crystal."

"Actually, I do have something to tell you," the CEO said, "There's a locator in every Duel Disk so we can keep track of all the duels taking place."

"So, you know where she is?" Johnny asked eagerly.

Kaiba smirked and nodded. He turned to Mokuba, "Where's her signal?"

"It's actually pretty close," the younger Kaiba said, typing on his laptop, "It's two blocks north and three blocks east in an alley."

"An alley," Johnny repeated, mentally groaning, "Great, just great."

"I'm sure she's fine," Mokuba said.

Johnny looked over at the child and raised an eyebrow, "Is her signal moving?"

"Umm... no," Mokuba said, lowering his eyes.

Kaiba frowned at this, "We'll go with you."

"If you want to," Johnny shrugged, before setting off to find Crystal._ If she's hurt, I'm never letting her out of the house again._

* * *

Crystal gritted her teeth and struggled back to her feet. Okay, maybe she'd been too over-confident. The Rare Hunter that had just attacked her had a triumphant grin on his face. The Curse of Dragon's (attack 2000) attack had decreased her life points to 600 and she was now left with only one monster on the field, her Gearfried the Iron Knight (attack 1800). Her other opponent was down to 1100 life points and had Mobius the Frost Monarch (attack 2400) on his side of the field. Next turn, the monster would destroy her Knight and the duel would be over.

Crystal narrowed her eyes. She couldn't let that happen. Crystal scanned the cards she held and wasn't encouraged by her hand. The cards consisted of Shrink, Draining Shield, Princess of Tsurugi, and Little Winguard. She pulled a card from her deck and saw it was Pot of Greed. Crystal activated the spell card and pulled two new cards from her deck, a grin spreading across her face when she saw what they were. She was still in this duel!

"I play Tribute to the Doomed," Crystal said, discarding her Draining Shield trap and destroying Mobius the Frost Monarch. "Go Gearfried the Iron Knight! Eliminate the rest of that Rare Hunter's life points. The warrior raised his sword and slashed the Rare Hunter across his chest, knocking him off his feet. He stood up, an enraged expression on his face. _One down, one to go._ "Next I activate Stray Lambs," she said, laying the spell on her Duel Disk and watching as the two Lamb Tokens appeared in defense position. "With that, I end my turn."

"Hmmph, you may have beaten my companion, but you can't defeat me!" the remaining duelist sneered, "I still have 1600 life points left and your pathetic monsters are no match for my Curse of Dragon. Go my monster! Destroy her Knight!"

Crystal winced as the blow fell on her creature, the shock wave making her hair whip around behind her. "You're down to 400 life points with only those little fur balls to protect you," the Rare Hunter smirked, "It's your turn. What are you going to do now?"

She looked down at her deck and closed her eyes. Everything rode on this one card. Crystal pulled the card and a slow smile spread across her face. "I sacrifice my two Lamb Tokens," Crystal said, placing the card she just drew on the field, "and summon Wingweaver!"

The Rare Hunter choked and stared at the six-winged fairy that stood in front of him. "No! It's not possible!"

"Just wait, it gets worse for you," Crystal said, grinning, "I activate the spell card Shrink, cutting your Curse of Dragon's attack in half!"

"No! That means-"

"That means that my attack will wipe out the rest of your life points," she finished. Crystal smirked and raised her hand, "Go Wingweaver! Ray of Hope!" The hologram of her dear friend raised its hand and let loose a powerful blast of magic that ripped through the Curse of Dragon, destroying it and reducing the remaining Rare Hunter's life points to zero.

The man was blown over by the shock and a few moments later he slowly stood up, an amazed expression on his face. Crystal walked over to where her two opponents stood and held out her hand, "If you give me your Locator Cards without a fuss, I'll let you keep your rarest cards." The two Rare Hunters wordlessly handed her their Locator Cards, humble expressions on their faces. She slipped the two cards into her pocket, a pleased smiled on her face.

Then the two Rare Hunters both grinned at her cruelly. Before Crystal could wonder what they were smiling about, a sharp pain hit her back and she cried out in surprise. She whirled around and saw that the man she'd knocked out earlier was conscious again, pointing a dart gun at her with a satisfied smirk on his lips.

_Uh oh._

Crystal's sight began to blur as the sedative in the dart started to take hold. She staggered forward, falling to her hands and knees, her limbs trembling with the effort of keeping her upright. One of the men she'd just dueled kicked her in the side when she tried to stand again, chuckling at her weakness. Crystal lay on her side, looking up at her captors with blurry eyes. "That's a cheap trick," she slurred, her voice soft and tired.

One of the Rare Hunters knelt down next to her, a golden eye blazing on his forehead. "It doesn't matter how I got you Princess. You should be worrying about what I'll do with you know that you're mine."

"Marik," she whispered, glaring blearily at the man the corrupted tomb keeper was controlling. _He knows who I am_... she thought hazily.

The puppet's triumphant smirk was the last thing Crystal saw before descending into unconsciousness.

* * *

**Sorry I took so long to update! It's hard to get back to writing this after focusing on NaNoWriMo. By the way, I failed. Miserably. Maybe next year I'll make it to 50,000 words...**

**Cliff hanger! Bwahahaha! I really am mean, aren't I?**


	25. Chapter 25

"I don't understand," Mokuba said, a little V forming between his eyebrows as he concentrated on the lap top screen, "This is where her signal is coming from!"

"It can't be a malfunction, we checked and double checked every device in the Duel Disks," Kaiba said, frowning in confusion.

Johnny was looking around the dark alley when something caught his eye. He walked over to a stack of boxes and picked up the small piece of machinery resting on them. The man scrutinized it and gave an exasperated sigh, "Hey, Kaiba. I think I found the problem with your tracker."

Kaiba glanced up and moved to the bodyguards side. Johnny set the tiny device in his palm and showed it to the CEO, "The problem is you made them removable."

The young man scowled and cursed under his breath, "Why would she take it out in the first place?"

"Crystal doesn't like it when people know where she is, it makes her paranoid," Johnny explained.

"Still," Kaiba protested, "It's not like we're keeping tabs on her specifically! This is a blatant disregard for-"

"Shh!" the bodyguard hissed, silencing the CEO in time to hear the final sounds of a scream echo down the alley. "That's Crystal," Johnny breathed, his chest constricting at the sound of his charge's cry. He'd only heard her scream a handful of times, and it never failed to send a cold shiver down his spine and make his heart beat faster.

Kaiba also tensed as he recognized the voice, "Come on," he called, running down the alley in the direction of the sound. Mokuba and Johnny were quick to follow, the bodyguard quickly outpacing Kaiba in his haste.

* * *

Johnny crouched down and picked up a strange object from the ground, scowling when he saw what it was. "A hypodermic needle. It's the type commonly used in tranquilizer guns," he muttered, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his free hand. Why would the men who took Crystal leave the needle behind? _They want someone to know she's been taken..._

"You think she's been kidnapped?" Mokuba said, his eyes wide.

"She didn't shoot herself, did she?" Johnny answered harshly.

"Why would anyone kidnap her?" Kaiba demanded, his eyes narrowing at the bodyguard's tone towards his brother.

"She's ticked off some very dangerous people," Johnny said, standing up and looking around for any clues as to where Crystal was taken. Whoever had shot Crystal was excellent at covering their tracks. As he searched for any sign of where Crystal had been moved, Johnny thought about who would have taken her. He was fairly certain Marik was behind this kidnapping, but the bodyguard also suspected that Zosimos, the assassin from Egypt, could have taken her. If the hit-man had found Crystal, she was in immediate danger. He bit his lip as he thought about the ransom that would be demanded, sent with a picture of Crystal tied to a chair, blindfolded and bleeding. Or, even worse, a note sent with one of her fingers...

Johnny viciously shook these thoughts from his mind. The more likely possibility that Crystal had been kidnapped by Marik was also troubling. It meant that Marik knew that his charge was the Pharaoh's sister and the traitorous tomb keeper would no doubt use her against Yami. It was difficult to decide which scenario was worse. He eventually decided it would be worse if Marik took her. He would lose the world as he knew it and, more importantly_, _the center of his universe if the tomb keeper succeeded in his plot...

The bodyguard eventually noticed that Kaiba had walked up next to him. "What?" he demanded.

Kaiba scowled darkly, "Where were you when she was putting herself in danger?"

"I am not in the mood for this Kaiba," Johnny hissed, glaring at the young CEO.

"It's an honest question," Kaiba said, staring back at him with anger in his deep blue eyes, "and I'm just dying to know the answer."

"I have done everything in my power to keep her safe," Johnny snarled, stalking over to the CEO and glaring at him.

"That's not good enough," the young man growled, returning the furious stare.

Mokuba looked up at them with wide eyes and pushed his way between them, "Stop it! It doesn't matter how Crystal got in trouble, we just have to find her!"

Johnny stepped back a little, but never broke eye contact with the CEO. His eyes were still narrowed in anger.

Kaiba put a hand on Mokuba's head, his death glare only slightly less intense. "He has a point."

The bodyguard closed his eyes and sighed, "Do you have any kind of surveillance? Cameras or the like?"

"Only around the city," the CEO replied, "I didn't expect any duels to take place here."

Mokuba was typing furiously on his laptop when his eyes widened. "Hey guys, look at this!" he called, waving them over, "Crystal activated her Duel Disk about half-an-hour ago, the same time two other Disks were activated in the same place."

"Are you saying she was dueling two people at the same time?" Kaiba asked.

"That sounds like Crystal, alright," Johnny sighed, rolling his eyes, "Her overconfidence is always getting her into trouble."

Mokuba grinned, "It's not overconfidence if you win!"

"She beat them?" Johnny asked, looking over the boy's shoulder, "Damn!"

Kaiba's eyes widened suddenly, "Mokuba, can you track the other duelists' signals?"

"Way ahead of ya, bro," Mokuba grinned, his fingers tapping on the keys, "It looks like they split up. One went back into the city, the other went further into the docks."

"We'll split up then," Johnny said, "I'll look around the docks and you can check in the city."

Kaiba nodded, "Alright then, good luck."

"You too," Johnny replied, "If you find her, call me on her cell."

"And if you find her?" the CEO asked.

Johnny smirked, "Then she'll be in the Battle City Finals."

One side of Kaiba's mouth twitched into a faint grin before it faded, "Fair enough, come on Mokuba."

The bodyguard watched the two brothers vanish behind a large crate and ran a hand through his hair, looking around the pier. Where to start looking...

* * *

Crystal slowly returned to consciousness, but she didn't move around to show that she was waking up. Johnny had always told her to figure out her surroundings before she let anyone know she was awake in these situations. Crystal didn't feel pain anywhere, but she could feel something rough on her bare arms, probably ropes binding her to the hard wooden chair she sat in. There was also pressure on her legs, so she figured they were bound to the chair as well. Inwardly, she smirked. Did her captors really think ropes would keep her bound?

She was about to summon her magic when she noticed people were talking somewhere in the room. Crystal mentally cursed herself. Johnny was right, she needed to be more careful. Of course the fuzziness she felt from just waking up wasn't helping her one bit. Wingweaver's worried voice broke in on her thoughts, _There are four men in the room and there's a tranquilizer gun with one of them. Be careful Crissy._

_Since when am I not careful?_ she thought, then after further consideration, _Don't answer that._ Crystal focused on the words coming from several feet in front of her, and finally understood the conversation

"... the princess? You're kidding!" a gruff voice said.

"No," another replied, "She really is the Pharaoh's sister."

"That can't be," another man interjected, "Does she look like one of Egypt's most powerful weapons?"

"What did you expect her to look like? Big bat wings with claws and horns on her head?"

"No! Just not so... normal..."

The man insisting Crystal was Yami's sister scoffed, "She's anything but normal! According to the scriptures Master Marik spoke of, she could heal the sick, fight like a demon, and survived 5,000 years in the Shadow Realm!"

There were soft murmmurs of appreciation when a new voice spoke up. "If she's so incredible, how was it so easy to catch her?"

None of the men seemed to have an answer for that, and Crystal hoped she didn't blush. It was pretty stupid of her to let herself be kidnapped so easily. She could almost hear Johnny lecturing her. 'Only turn your back on a corpse.'

The sound of a door opening caught her attention, and her heart quickened. Could this be Marik? She forced herself to remain limp and relaxed, but inside she was a ball of nerves.

"When will Master Marik be here?" said the new man, and Crystal breathed a quiet sigh of relief. Marik still wasn't there, thank the gods.

"I told you just minutes ago Omar!" one of the men cried in exasperation, "He'll be here any minute now!"

"I'm sorry, Thadius," the new comer said sheepishly, "She just makes me nervous, that's all."

There was sharp laughter at this remark, "You really are a pansy, Omar," one said, walking over to where Crystal was bound, "She's still unconscious!" With those words, the Rare Hunter grabbed a bunch her hair and yanked her face up off her chest.

That really pissed her off.

There were at least five men in the room now, and there were probably more outside, but Crystal wasn't about to wait around for Marik. Her eyes snapped open and she broke the ropes binding her with a short burst of magic. The man next to her gasped and staggered back, staring at her with wild eyes. Crystal leaped out of her seat, stumbled a bit as her blood flow returned, and sent one of the Rare Hunters flying with another blast of magic. The man hit the wall and sank back down to the floor, unconscious. By now, the remaining men were mobilizing. One picked up a tranquilizer gun and the other three charged at her.

Crystal just punched the first one in the jaw, easily taking him out. The others were more tricky. The next one to reach her dodged her first punch and tackled her to the ground. Crystal managed to push him off of her a little and knee him in the groin. So what if it was an underhand, dirty move, they'd shot her in the back!

As she struggled to move the heavy Rare Hunter off of her, the other man rushed up and grabbed her by the hair. It was probably the same guy who'd tugged her hair earlier. The hair fetish man dragged her up and pinned her arms, yelling at the man with the tranquilizer gun to shoot her. Crystal watched the man take aim and struggled harder, calling up her magic at the same time. As soon as Crystal saw the Rare Hunter on the other side of the room pull the trigger, she let loose the energy she'd built up. Crystal threw the man over her shoulders and sent the man flying all the way across the room. Not only did the flying Rare Hunter intercept the tranquilizer dart, he also knocked the man with the gun. The two slammed into the wall and were knocked unconscious. "Yeah!" Crystal smirked, permitting herself a little victory dance, "That's what happens when you mess with me, you cowardly bunch of slimy, no good, dingle-berries!(1)"

There was a dark laugh from the door, making Crystal jump and look over, forming balls of light in her hands. The man leaning against the threshold was wearing a dark purple robe with the hood up, masking most of his face. She could see his mouth though, which was pulled into a cruel smirk. "I must say, I'm impressed. I would have thought those tranquilizers were enough to keep you contained for an hour," the man said, amusement in his voice.

Crystal paled a little as she realized who he was. "I've been drugged so many times Marik, it takes a lot more than one dose to keep me down for long."

Marik chuckled again, "I'll keep that in mind. I'm terribly sorry for keeping you waiting Princess, but now that I'm here, why don't we get to know each other better?" Crystal watched as the tomb keeper reached into his robe, no doubt going for the Millenium Rod. _OK, time to get out of here._

_Agreed, _Wingweaver said, _but how are we going to get out the door?_

_Who needs a door? _Crystal thought, grinning. She loosed the balls of light on her fingers into the closest wall and blasted a hole through it. The smoke that rolled from the impact was enough to hide her from Marik's sight. "Crystal!" his angry voice screamed from the door, and a blast of gold light flew over her head. _Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap!_

Crystal ran out the opening she'd blasted and took off down one of the gaps between the crates. She shot a few bolts of magic whenever a Rare Hunter tried to stop her, but for the most part she conserved her energy. She had to get far enough away to get help, and dropping from exhaustion would not be beneficial. Crystal ran until she was maybe half a mile away from where Marik had held her. She doubted Marik himself would go after her, he seemed more like a malignant puppet master than an active villain. Crystal slumped against the wall and relaxed a bit, catching her breath. She jumped and reached into her pockets and sighed in relief when she felt her phone and Locator Cards were still there. Crystal considered calling Johnny to let him know she was alright, but thinking about his angry voice yelling at her was enough to dispel those thoughts.

The young royal heard footsteps to her right and saw a Rare Hunter walking down the darkened alley she was resting in. Crystal smirked a little and stepped out, making the man jump. "How about a duel?" she asked, activating her Duel Disk, "I still need three more Locator Cards..."

* * *

**(1) For those of you who have no idea what a dingle-berry is, allow me to explain. First of all it is not a fruit. For those of you who have pets, you're probably familiar with what a dingle-berry is. Guessed it yet? Alright, I'll tell you then. It's a piece of poo that gets stuck to an animals butt, usually in winter. It sometimes happens to people too, but that way more rare and a whole lot more awkward. Dingle-berry. Perhaps my favorite thing to call someone. :)**

**Yay! I updated! Sorry it took so long. :) ... Not entirely sure how to start the next chapter, but I'll think of something. I might write a one-shot before I write another chapter though...**

**Review plz! I don't even care what you write! I'm so lonely :( Dang, I sound so desperate... Maybe I need a life...**

**Puck'sGirl20: Maybe?**

**Shut up you mean old dingle-berry!**

**Puck'sGirl20: :)**


	26. Chapter 26

**Holy Crap it's been a long time since I've updated! Srry!**

* * *

Marik stared at the hole the princess had blown in the wall, rage contorting his features into a scowl. His fists were clenched so hard they were shaking and his teeth ground together in frustration. He'd lost her! She was in his grasp, just feet away and he'd blown his chance! Marik growled deep in his throat and kicked the chair Crystal had been bound to across the room. He continued to underestimate her, to think she was trapped when she was only planning an escape. This could not continue. Had he learned nothing from the scriptures? All those hopeless situations and last minute escapes... Marik couldn't afford to think she was out of options again.

But, he'd thought the Shadow Realm had weakened her more. It had been so easy to catch her... His mind wandered back to when he'd possessed his Rare Hunter's body and spoken to her as the tranquilizer dart started to take hold. Marik had seen the shock in her eyes, the flicker of fear in their blue-gold depths before she masked it with contempt. He licked his lips, a cruel smile replacing his scowl. He wanted to see that look again. Marik could easily paint a picture in his mind's eye of the impertinent royal's time of reckoning. The princess, knocked back by the blow of his Winged Dragon of Ra, defeated and trembling as she awaited his final judgment. The realization that she was at his complete mercy showing on her paling face, no matter how she tried to hide it. Would she feel so brave then? Would those lovely eyes still sparkle with reckless defiance?

Even better would be the look on the Pharaoh's face. Shock, anger, fear. He'd make that pompous royal watch his sister writhe in agony as she lived out the deepest fears creeping in her darkest dreams. Then, Marik would make Crystal watch as he defeated her brother and took his power for himself. He would watch the unwavering faith she had in the Pharaoh wither and die. The corrupted tomb keeper couldn't stop a dark chuckle from escaping his lips. Then the real fun would begin. Marik would turn their love for each other against them, twist it into the ultimate torment. Yes, they would watch the other suffer endlessly, with nothing one could do to help the other.

When he became bored with that, he would delight in slowly killing the Pharaoh, watching the light in those hideous amethyst eyes gradually dim and die. By then, Crystal would no longer be the strong, proud royal who had glided through the grand halls of her palace. She would be insane, a gibbering mess that trembled pitifully every time he touched her, to terrified to even scream. Marik would keep her alive as a reminder to all who opposed him what happened when...

"Master Marik," came a deep voice behind him, interrupting his thoughts.

Marik pulled himself from his musings and glared impatiently at Odion, who was kneeling in the door's threshold. "What is it?" the Egyptian snapped.

"Several Rare Hunters have gone after the princess, but they've lost track of her," his servant reported.

Marik's eyes narrowed before his face lifted into a cruel smirk, "I didn't expect you to catch her again. My plans for her can wait. Besides, we know where she'll soon be."

"The Battle City finals?" Odion guessed.

"Precisely," the holder of the Millenium Rod grinned, "Right now I have more pressing matters to attend to. I'm still a few Locator Cards short to enter the finals..."

Odion stood, "I'll gather some duelists for you, master."

"When you find them, bring them to the where my boat is docked. I'll be utilizing my new mind slaves there."

"Yes Master Marik," the older man said, bowing before he left the room. Marik fingered the head of his Millenium Item and smirked. It was time to let the Pharaoh know exactly who he was dealing with. He didn't expect the royal to lose, but the loss of his best friend, Joey, would take some of the cockiness out of him. His grin widened as he recalled his earlier thoughts. Marik had better things in store for the Pharaoh than the peaceful demise of drowning...

* * *

Crystal snarled and knocked the only attacker still standing across the head, sending the Rare Hunter spiraling into unconsciousness. "These guys don't give up do they?" she muttered crossly.

_They have much to lose if they fail,_ Wingweaver said, startling her, _To Marik, all these men are disposable._

"You've been quiet lately," Crystal noted, ignoring her friend's statement. She didn't want to feel pity for these men.

Wingweaver's answer was brief._ I had nothing to say._

"Hmm..." Crystal made her way around the prone bodies on the ground and stepped out into the warm, red light of the setting sun. She knew Wingweaver had been preoccupied with her thoughts lately, but her friend had given no sign as to what they were about. Well, almost no sign. Crystal had felt the emotions slipping through Wingweaver's soul room door. They were a whirlwind of feeling, but there were four emotions that stood out plainly. Worry, anger, fear, and love. All those emotions, weaving together, some rising stronger than others, than falling back again.

Crystal sighed and ran a hand through her hair. It didn't take a genius to figure out what Wingweaver was thinking about; the same worries weren't far from her own thoughts either. She glanced down at her Duel Disk, which covered the shadowy bruise on her arm. Out of sight, out of mind did not apply in this case. There was a constant, dull ache in her arm, which throbbed with each beat of her heart. Her whole body felt heavier, including her eyelids, which drooped dangerously. Quite frankly, she was exhausted. Luckily, she had all the Locator Cards she needed to enter the finals. No more running from Rare Hunters.

_Maybe you should drop out of the tournament, Crystal_, Wingweaver said in her soft voice.

"What?" she cried out loud, "Are you crazy? No!"

_But you're getting so weak_, her friend protested, _What chance would you stand against Marik, hmm? Would you be able to take part in a Shadow Game with those damn shadows sucking the life out of you?_

"You swore..." Crystal murmured, trying to ignore Wingweaver's accurate statement. Why did Wingweaver always have to be right?

_Well, what chance do you think you would have against Marik and his Millenium Item, hmm?_ Wingweaver demanded, her ethereal form materializing in front of her, arms folded crossly.

"But... Yami and his friends... I need to keep them safe..." she whispered.

The spirit gave an exasperated sigh, but her expression softened. _Do you really think you can protect them, Crissy?_ she asked gently.

_"You think you can protect him? You can't even protect yourself!" _

Crystal's eyes narrowed as she recalled the cruel, derisive words spoken to her a lifetime ago by a man she no longer remembered_. _"I have to try," Crystal replied, steel creeping into her tone.

Said steel quickly evaporated when a tranquilizer dart flew by her ear, making her squeak like a little girl. "Holy!" she cried out, ducking and looking over her shoulder at where the projectile had been shot from. Two Rare Hunters were standing several feet behind her, one of which held a tranquilizer gun in a shaky grip.

Crystal's eyes narrowed as wisps of darkness curled out from under the dark spirit's door and wove around her soul room. She could feel the anger in her rising as the wisps clouded her mind. Her tiredness was forgotten, and for the first time in many weeks, she could focus on something other than the alien presence within herself.

Destroying the men who were threatening her family.

Something was off about that though... it didn't make sense. Her family wasn't anywhere around here... But as the anger rose, that ceased to be important.

There must have been something dangerous in her expression, because the two puppets started to back up slowly, before whirling around and running down the alley.

_Crystal!_ Wingweaver cried out in surprise and worry, but Crystal ignored her and ran after the two Rare Hunters, dimly hearing the insistent whisper of the dark spirit resonating through her mind. "Just give in to the rage. It's wonderful, isn't it Crissy? Doesn't it feel so good?"

And, to be honest, it did.

* * *

Crystal followed the black robed men for as long as she could, her weakened body finally stopping her furious chase. She turned a corner before lurching to a stop, glaring at the Rare Hunters' backs as they ran farther and farther away. "Yeah, you better run!" she yelled, not caring that they were too far away to hear her.

_Crystal, you need to control your temper!_ Wingweaver admonished.

"Shut up," she hissed, pointedly ignoring the hurt feelings coming from Wingweaver's soul room. Crystal continued to rant loudly, only now she was speaking in Ancient Egyptian. She finished by making a few rude gestures in the direction the Rare Hunters had disappeared before giving an exasperated sigh.

"Woah, didn' see that one comin'," said a familiar voice. _Joey?_

She turned around and saw that Yugi, his friends, Seto, Mokuba, and a few others she hadn't met before were all standing a couple yards behind her. As Crystal realized that they had witnessed her entire emotional outburst, the embarrassment wiped away the last traces of anger from her mind. "Oh... I, um..." she stammered, feeling the blood rush to her cheeks. Crystal gave a small wave and a sheepish smile. "Hey guys..."

"You know her?" a girl Crystal didn't recognize asked Joey with a scared expression on her face.

"Yeah, she's Pegasus' kid," Joey said, grinning over at her, "So, what are you picking fights for, Crystal?"

"They started it!" Crystal complained, then she realized how childish that sounded and blushed even harder, "They shot darts at me for Ra's sake! And don't even get me started on the 'tied to a chair' episode and the hair fetish guy!"

Everyone was silent for a long moment before Mokuba cracked up. "Hair fetish guy?" he cackled, holding his stomach as tears rolled down his face. Joey and Tristan were quick to follow Mokuba's example.

"But... he..." Crystal looked from the three laughing boys to Seto, who was trying to keep a smirk off his face. "They kidnapped me for Ra's sake!" she shouted, pouting childishly.

"They what?" Yugi exclaimed, his eyes widening.

The three boy's stopped laughing and Seto's face became solemn. "Yeah," Crystal said, running a hand through her hair, "It was kinda embarrassing."

"Don't worry about it," Tristan said, "Joey, Tea, and Mokuba were kidnapped too."

"Well, Mokuba's a given," Crystal grinned, winking at the boy.

"Hey!" Mokuba protested, as Tristan and Joey burst into laughter.

Crystal chuckled with them, then looked closer at Yugi and frowned. "Why are you all wet Yugi? Did you fall in?" she asked.

Joey scowled, and looking at him closer, Crystal realized he was wet too. "That jerk Marik made me duel Yugi usin' his Millenium Rod. For the duel, our legs were chained to these anchors, and the loser would be dragged underwater," Joey explained.

"Sick bastard," she muttered.

"We just barely made it out alive," Yugi said.

Joey looked around quick and gave her a puzzled look. "Hey, where's that guy who follows you around?"

"Oh, yeah!" Tristan said, realizing the large bodyguard wasn't hovering over her shoulder, "Did Marik get Jamie, too?"

"Johnny," Crystal corrected, then she blushed guiltily, "And no... I kinda ditched him."

"He's worried about you, you know," Seto said, an accusatory tone in his voice. His blue eyes were dark and serious as he stared into her own. If Crystal hadn't known him better, she would've thought Seto had been worried too.

But, that was preposterous.

Crystal bit her lip and looked down, guilt written all over her face. "Where is he?" she asked.

"He's somewhere on the docks, we split up to look for you. He wants you to call him," Seto replied.

"Oh," she thought about what he said for a few seconds, then her eyes widened in surprise. "You were looking for me?" she questioned, looking up at him.

"Mokuba was kidnapped too," he muttered in a dismissive tone.

Mokuba's brow crinkled in confusion. "But Seto, we went looking before I was-"

Seto gripped Mokuba's shoulder and gave him a warning look. Before anyone could figure out what the millionaire was upset about, Seto reached into his pocket and pulled out Crystal's necklace. "Here's your necklace back," he snapped harshly, flinging it at her.

Crystal quickly reached up and caught it. "Thanks," she said, too surprised to scowl at his rudeness.

"Come on, Mokuba, we're leaving," Seto ordered, stalking away.

"Wait up!" Mokuba cried, scurrying after him. The two were soon out of sight.

"Jeez, what's eating him?" a boy with pretty green eyes muttered.

"He's always like that," Joey shrugged. He paused and thought about something for a moment before his eyes widened. "Oh, hey Crystal, meet my sister Serenity," the blonde said, having just remembered that they had never met before. The girl he was gesturing at was still looking at Crystal with an uncertain expression.

Maybe screaming Ancient Egyptian curses at people who were no longer within hearing distance wasn't the best first impression...

"It's nice to meet you Serenity," Crystal smiled, trying to send off friendly and sane waves. Serenity seemed to relax, but she still looked a little nervous.

"I'm Duke Devlin," the boy with pretty eyes said, since Joey had spaced off and probably wasn't going to introduce them.

"Crystal Pegasus," she replied, nodding to him and then turning back to the group as a whole, "I'm sorry, but I need to take off. I'm heading to the Finals."

Yugi grinned, "We're going there too, you could join us."

Crystal shook her head, smiling a little. "I'm nothing but trouble, Yugi. Really. Marik might still be after me and I'd hate to get you involved with that. It'd probably be best if I went alone." Marik probably wouldn't try to go after Yugi again, now that the Finals were so close to starting, but he might go through the trouble of catching her again and controlling her mind. She didn't want anyone caught in the crossfire if that happened. Besides, she wouldn't be able to use her magic around the others.

"But-" Yugi protested, looking surprised.

"No, it's fine. I'll see you at the Finals," she said, whirling around and walking away before anyone could call her back. She couldn't risk putting Yugi and his friends in even more danger.

After a few minutes, Crystal remembered the heart shaped pendent she still held in her hands. True to his word, Seto had had the chain fixed. Crystal gripped the ends of the necklace and reached behind her to fasten it around her neck, wondering why Seto had acted like such a douchebag. "Probably just male PMS," she muttered under her breath, then she giggled at the thought.

Thinking of male PMS reminded her of Johnny, so she paused and got out her cell phone. Her inbox was full of texts from him, and so was her voicemail. The earlier ones were angry and filled with tons of exclamation marks, but the messages grew more pleading and desperate the more recent they became. Crystal felt a twang of guilt again and sighed. She really didn't deserve the love Johnny gave her. Crystal texted him a short message. _Am safe. Dont worry. _That should ease his worries for a little while at least.

* * *

"Hey, Seto?" Mokuba said.

"What," the CEO asked, glancing over at his younger brother.

"Why'd you get all mean when you were talking to Crystal?"

Seto sighed and closed his eyes. "I didn't want her to get the wrong idea about why I went searching for her," he explained.

"Oh," Mokuba said, "Why did you look for her then?"

"... It doesn't matter." He wasn't even sure himself why he'd gone after her. Something about imagining Crystal's bright, cheerful face gagged and tear-stained angered him deeply. Seeing her safe (though she did look exhausted) made those thoughts seem unfounded and far too emotionally involved for his liking, so he'd automatically pushed her away. Maybe his actions on the pier were the result of some leftover defense mechanism from his troubled youth, an attempt to protect himself from the pain of losing someone close. Being orphaned left him with some serious psychological damage...

... but maybe he'd been to harsh with Crystal back at the pier...

Mokuba was grinning up at him with an evil glint in his eyes. "What is it Mokuba?" Seto asked warily.

"Seto and Crystal, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S"

"No," Seto interrupted the boy's sing-song voice as he realized what Mokuba was implying, "Honestly Mokuba, must you act so childish?"

"I am a child!" Mokuba protested.

Oh, yeah...

"Still, some maturity would be nice."

Mokuba wrinkled his nose and crossed his arms moodily. "Fine!" he muttered.

The two were quiet for a moment, then Mokuba raised one of his arms and coughed into the crease of his elbow. "*cough cough* I-N-G *cough cough*"

"What was that Mokuba?"

"Oh, nothing bro, I just had a tickle in my throat."

* * *

**Just so you know, I'm going to put this story on hiatus for a while. I'll probably go back to the beginning and touch it up a bit, since in hindsight it does kind of suck. I'm writing another multi-chapter fic too, but not nearly as long as this one. I'll probably post the first chapter or two in a couple days. And hey, guess what! Last friday was the one year anniversary of me starting this fic! :) Hooray!**


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